Todayโs path rounds are on ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ is essentially what it sounds like, having too much copper in the body. There are two basic forms, ๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ, where the body is delivered a large amount of copper over a short period of time, and ๐๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ, where there are consistently high levels of copper, but not enough to induce acute toxicity.
๐๐ก๐จ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
This condition is primarily seen in sheep! However, it can happen in dog breeds with inherited copper sensitivities as well.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
Acute copper toxicity is less common, but can happen if a sheep ingests large amounts of a product with high copper levels like some dewormers, mineral supplements or feed mixes.
Chronic toxicity is much more common, and can be caused by inappropriate mineral balancing in the diet, or ingestion of plants that damage the liver.
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ?
Copper can be very damaging to cells, so proper transport and storage is critical to keeping the body safe. When copper is absorbed into the body, it gets taken up by the cells of the liver in large sacks called ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ, which prevents copper from damaging the cell itself. With copper toxicity, these liver lysosomes become absolutely jam packed with copper, and eventually the cell is unable to counteract all of its damaging effects, causing copper to be released into the liver tissue. Thankfully, the liver is a huge and highly regenerative organ, so as long as the nearby cells are able to take up the released copper, the animal will be ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐๐๐ฅ (no clinical signs of disease) and carry on its happy sheep life.
However, in severe cases, there may be an imbalance in the liver cells, where there are too many releasing copper and not enough to take up that copper to prevent cell damage. This is when chronic copper toxicity presents itself, with large amounts of copper entering the bloodstream and destroying red blood cells. The result is severe ๐ข๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ (accumulation of a yellow red blood cell breakdown product called bilirubin in the tissue), accumulation of ๐ก๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ข๐ง (the protein that makes blood red) in the kidneys, and even ๐ก๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ (blood in the urine). These animals often die rapidly and have an extremely poor treatment prognosis.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐?
As always, good ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฒ (management of an animal) is the best means of prevention! The most important is making sure that the animalsโ diet has appropriate levels of copper, including ensuring that there are no ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐ (damaging to the liver) plants in their fields.
๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ฌ
1-4) Examples of a โgunmetalโ kidney in copper toxicosis. The kidney appears black due to the severe accumulation of hemoglobin! Weird!
5) What copper toxicity looks like on histology of the kidney. See all the little pink dit-dots in the cells? Those are accumulations of hemoglobin within the cells! You can also see large orangey-red lakes of hemoglobin within the ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ (primary structure of the kidney where urine is found) indicating hemoglobinuria.
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ
Maxie, G. Jubb, Kennedy and Palmerโs Pathology of Domestic Animals, Volume 2. Sixth Edition.
Photos 1-4 courtesy of Noahโs Arkive.
Photo 5 courtesy of University of Calgary Diagnostic Services Unit.
