Investigation of the copper content in blood serum and its ultrafiltrate in the conditions of experimental space flight simulation

Abstract In experiment MARS-500 on remote space flight simulation, atomic emission spectral analysis with inductively coupled argon plasma was used to measure serum copper and its ultrafiltration fraction. It was shown that, in contrast to baseline data, the Cu serum level varied within the normal physiological boundaries throughout the entire simulation experiment. These variations were sync in all the serum samples. In several periods in the experiment reductions in serum Cu within the baseline range were equivalent to simultaneous reductions in ceruloplasmin. Amount of the free Cu (ultrafiltration) fraction, i.e. not bound to proteins in blood serum, was constant at all times. Since the simulation experiment is not a perfect analogy of space flight because of nonreproducibility of some factors, ionizing radiation specifically, we should take into consideration shifts in the serum copper balance caused by the action of space radiation on human organism. Radiation-induced imbalance is not only a marker of disturbed oxidase function of blood but also points to a mechanism of potential pathological outcome of toxic excessive copper accumulated in the brain, liver and kidney.