Age and copper intake do not affect copper absorption, measured with the use of 65Cu as a tracer, in young infants

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Copper (Supplement), published as a randomized controlled trial.

The researchers evaluated the effect of age and copper intake on copper absorption in infants during the first 3 mo of life.

Why It Was Studied

Copper homeostasis involves a high degree of regulation in which changes in absorption and biliary excretion are the main mechanisms.

Whether neonates and small infants can make these changes efficiently is unknown.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 19 infants were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as infants, both men and women.

Thirty-nine healthy infants (19 infants aged 1 mo and 20 infants aged 3 mo) were selected.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Copper (Supplement) and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

At the end of the trial, copper absorption was measured by using orally administered (65)Cu as a tracer and fecal monitoring of recovered (65)Cu.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Aging, Copper, Diet, Dietary Supplements, Feces, Intestinal Absorption and Isotopes.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Copper (Supplement) in 19 infants.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2002 (The American journal of clinical nutrition), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Copper (Supplement) compound page, all human trials.