There are conflicting data on the associations between copper and glycemia, plasma lipids, and atherosclerotic diseases.Copper has both pro-oxidant and antioxidant effects. We performed a cross-sectional analysis to investigate the associations between dietary copper intake and metabolic variables and serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in asymptomatic subjects from a population-based cohort (n ¼ 1197) and between serum copper concentration and markers of oxidative stress, including plasma nitrotyrosine (NT) and total antioxidant status (TAS), hs-CRP, and metabolic variables in a subgroup of men from this cohort (n ¼ 231). In all subjects, diastolic blood pressure and circulating glucose, uric acid, and total and LDL-cholesterol concentrations significantly decreased, whereas the hs-CRP concentration increased, from the lowest to the highest tertile of copper intake. In the male subgroup, glucose and total and LDL-cholesterol and TAS decreased, whereas hs-CRP and NT concentrations increased from the lowest to the highest tertile of serum copper concentration. In multiple regression models, dietary copper intake was inversely associated with diastolic blood pressure (P ¼ 0.002), fasting glucose (P , 0.001), total cholesterol (P , 0.001), LDL-cholesterol (P , 0.001), and uric acid (P , 0.001) and was directly associated with the hs-CRP concentration (P , 0.001). Serum copper concentrations were inversely associated with glucose (P , 0.001), total cholesterol (P , 0.001), LDL-cholesterol (P , 0.001), and TAS (P , 0.001) and were directly associated with hs-CRP (P , 0.001) and NT concentrations (P , 0.001). Marginal copper deficiency is associated with an unfavorable metabolic pattern, but copper supplementation might not be recommended in view of its association with inflammation and markers of oxidative stress.

EVA PAGANO 4OBJECTIVE -Hyperglycemia is a common condition in hospitalized patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between glycemia upon admission and mortality in a heterogeneous group of adult patients.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS -The 3-year records released from a general hospital were associated with a plasma glucose dataset of its general laboratory. A matched case-control study was implemented (3,338 case-control subject pairs). All-patient refined diagnosis-related groups and the relative risk of death were the matching criteria. A multivariate conditional logistic regression model was used to evaluate the associations between death and glycemia.RESULTS -Higher in-hospital mortality was associated with hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia, whereas lower risk was observed for values between 78 and 101 mg/dl. CONCLUSIONS -Our data confirm the relation between glycemia upon admission and mortality and suggest that slightly increased or decreased plasma glucose can be linked with increased mortality risk.

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR concentration when nephrologists face uremic depres-Depression in dialysis sion? If rubidium deficiency is confirmed, it might allow supplementation, which could add to the tools for the patients: Rubidium war against uremic depression.

Our observations suggest that in non-intensive care patients, hypoglycaemia, as hyperglycaemia, is associated with in-hospital mortality.