Interactive relations between copper, iron, zinc, arsenic, cadmium and lead in the liver in sheep after experimental poisoning with copper oxide

The interactions between copper, iron, zinc, arsenic, cadmium and lead were studied in the livers of 12 ewes of the Improved Wallachian breed after experimentally induced intoxication with cuprous oxide from industrial emission. The highest correlation coefficient was recorded between the concentrations of copper and zinc in the livers of the experimental ewes (r = 0.916) and its value was at a significance level of p less than 0.05. The interaction between copper and arsenic in the liver of the experimental animals corresponded to a correlation coefficient of r = 0.359 and that between copper and cadmium corresponded to r = 0.129. The lowest correlation coefficient in the livers of the experimental animals was recorded between copper and lead (r = 0.073). As to the relationships between the remaining elements, the highest correlation coefficient (r = 0.667) was obtained between the contents of zinc and cadmium in the livers of the experimental ewes. The interaction of copper with the other risky metals after experimental intoxication was limited by the concentration of the studied elements in the industrial emission as well as by the course of the disease itself.