The relationship between the serum levels of copper and zinc and brucellosis disease

Background: Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease in humans and animals and a public health problem throughout the world. Given that measuring changes in the levels of trace elements is a good marker for the diagnosis of infectious diseases from non-infectious ones, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the serum levels of copper and zinc and brucellosis. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 patients with the brucellosis disease and the subjects were divided into two groups of case and control (n=50 in each group). The serum levels of copper and zinc were measured using the automatic absorptive spectrophotometer. Results: From a total of 100 patients, 31 patients (31) were females and 69 (69) were males. The mean age of the patients in the case group was 32.74±13.7 years and in the control group was 33.44±13.6 years. The results showed that the serum copper level was significantly increased and the zink level significantly decreased in the patients with brucellosis (P<0.001). Conclusion: It seems that the serum levels of copper and zinc can be used as a valid marker for the diagnosis of brucellosis