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Controlling Factors in the Development of Ceruloplasmin in Pigs during the Neonatal Growth Period¹

Department of Biochemistry, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27607

The sequence of ceruloplasmin development and limiting factors controlling this process in neonatal piglets was studied in a randomized block design. Guided by the change in serum ceruloplasmin levels, the liver copper concentrations of piglets fed copper-deficient and copper-supplemented diets were compared in three different periods. The plasma of piglets was devoid of both apo- and holo-ceruloplasmin at birth. The system responsible for the synthesis of apoceruloplasmin developed shortly after birth as indicated by a steady increase in serum ceruloplasmin activity during the first week without being affected by the diet. Copper apparently was not the limiting factor at this stage since very high concentrations of copper were found in the livers of newborn piglets. However, the liver copper was depleted quickly within 1 to 2 weeks and became the limiting factor if the diet was deficient in copper. The livers of these piglets were fractionated by differential centrifugation to compare the liver copper distribution in the two dietary groups with and without copper supplementation. The treatments did not affect the copper distribution on a percentage of total liver copper basis. However, fractionation study revealed that, unlike adult pig livers, about 70% to 80% of copper was present in the heavier particle fractions of piglet livers.

KEY WORDS: • ceruloplasmin • development • neonatal piglet

¹ Contribution from the Schools of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Physical and Mathematical Sciences. Paper No. 4853 of the Journal Series of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. Raleigh, North Carolina 27607. This work was supported in part by grant No. AM-13055 from the National Institutes of Health.

² Deceased April 2, 1975.

Manuscript received 1 December 1975.