Copper, Red Blood Cells Unit Converter

Copper, Red Blood Cells (RBC copper) measures the concentration of copper inside your red blood cells. Unlike serum copper, which fluctuates with inflammation and hormonal changes, RBC copper reflects your long-term copper status because red blood cells live for about 120 days.

About 80% of the copper in red blood cells is bound to an antioxidant enzyme called copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD). This makes RBC copper a useful indicator of both copper stores and antioxidant capacity.

RBC copper is typically ordered alongside serum copper and ceruloplasmin to provide a more complete picture of copper metabolism.

Copper is absorbed in the upper small intestine and transported to the liver, where it is incorporated into ceruloplasmin and distributed throughout the body. During red blood cell development in the bone marrow, copper is incorporated into developing cells primarily as a cofactor for SOD1.