Abstract
Copper, an essential trace element for health, plays various biological roles in human body. Serum copper reference values are important for assessing copper associated abnormalities and the prevalence of copper deficiency. The aim of this study was to determine reference range of copper in adult population of Lahore. Serum copper concentration was measured by flame atomic absorption spectrometry in 450 healthy adults aged 20 to 29 years, which were randomly selected. After application of exclusion criteria reference values were determined in apparently healthy subjects according to guidelines of International Federation of Clinical Chemistry. Reference value for serum copper concentration ranged between 4.72µmol/L to 31.48µmol/L (mean 17.62 µmol/L ±6.67). The mean serum copper level for males was 18.57µmol/L ± 6.61. The value for male subjects ranged between 4.72µmol/L to 31.7µmol/L. The mean serum copper level in females being 16.52µmol/L ± 6.67. Similarly, the values for females range between 4.72 µmol/L to 30.48µmol/L. In conclusion this study presents reference values for serum copper concentration in adult population of Lahore. The results here shows that there is significant difference in serum level of copper among different countries. This difference may be due to racial and genetic difference, dietary habits and socioeconomic and analytical variables.

Key words: copper, reference value, atomic absorption spectrometry, population