Penicillamine and collagen metabolism.

Penicillamine blocks the crosslinking of collagen in man and in all the animal species it has been tested in. At the standard dose in which it is used it binds to the aldehydes present in collagen and prevents them from forming crosslinks. It is more efficient in inhibiting the crosslinking of soft tissues, where the aldehydes are derived from lysine, and less effective in preventing crosslinking of bone, where the aldehydes involved are primarily those derived from hydroxylysine. At very high doses it can inhibit lysyloxidase activity by making Cu unavailable to the enzyme.