Dialysis-Chelex method for determination of exchangeable copper in human plasma

A method based on dialysis in the presence of histidine, and subsequent copper adsorption and preconcentration using Chelex-100 resin, has been developed for selective extraction of exchangeable copper from blood plasma. The method was verified by comparative analysis using two different instrumental techniques, ICP-MS and AAS. The results obtained were in excellent agreement. Accurate quantification of the exchangeable copper and the firmly bound copper was achieved. The method was further validated by analysis of a lyophilised human serum certified reference material.