Anemia of inflammatory disease in the dog: measurement of hepatic superoxide dismutase, hepatic nonheme iron, copper, zinc, and ceruloplasmin and serum iron, copper, and zinc.

Copper and iron are involved in protection of the aerobic cell from highly toxic oxygen by-products, one of which is the superoxide anion-free radical. This protection is associated with a copper-zinc enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Increased hepatic superoxide dismutase activity correlated directly with hepatic nonheme iron, serum zinc, and serum copper concentrations and inversely with hepatic copper, hepatic zinc, and serum iron concentrations (P less than 0.001). Decrease in hepatic ceruloplasmin concentration was correlated with the decrease in hepatic copper concentration (P less than 0.001).