Inflammatory Diseases and Copper: The Metabolic and Therapeutic Roles of Copper and Other Essential Metalloelements in Humans

In 1928, it was discovered that copper was essential for normal human metabolism. A decade later, in 1938, it was observed that patients with rheu­ matoid arthritis exhibited a higher than normal serum copper concentration that returned to normal with remission of this disease. Thirteen years later, it was found that copper complexes were effective in treating arthritic diseases. The first report that copper complexes had antiinflammatory activity in an animal model of inflammation appeared...