Is low serum tocopherol in Wilson's disease a significant symptom?

Free radical mediated injury is increasingly recognized in many metabolic diseases including Wilson's disease (WD). Use of antioxidants as an adjunctive therapy in WD may have therapeutic significance. The aim of the study was to correlate serum levels of tocopherols with serum copper and ceruloplasmin and clinical status of these patients. Serum levels of tocopherol of were measured spectrophotometrically using the Emmerie-Engel reaction in 34 patients from a large cohort of WD being followed up at a tertiary care center. Majority of patients were male (M/F=23:11). The mean serum copper was 43.6±26.2 μg/dl (range=10-121 μg/dl) and serum ceruloplasmin was 5.6±5.5 mg/dl (range=0-30 mg/dl). The mean serum tocopherol level was 0.68±0.18 mg/dl (range=0.23-1.14 mg/dl) and compared to the control (1.07±0.17 mg/dl), nearly 59% of patients had decreased levels (p