Departments of Biochemistry, Psychiatry and Endocrinology. Poster was presented at the VII International Congress on Automation and New Technology in Clinical Laboratory. Introduction A group of the trace elements, the essential trace elements, play a mayor role in many metabolic pathways. Copper and zinc, two essential trace elements have been studied in many diseases, included autoimmune, neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Copper is component of several methalloenzimes, including tirosinase and dopamine b hidroxilase.
On the other hand, the copper plays a well-known role in neurological disorders. In schizophrenic patients have been found raised levels of serum copper 1,2,3 . Copper have been shown to be reduced after antidepressant treatment in depressive patients 4 . Zinc is implicated in the functioning of more than 200 enzymes, some of then related with DNA and RNA synthesis. Also there is a clear relationship with the functioning of the immune system.