Aceruloplasminemia: a case report

Abstract

Hereditary aceruloplasminemia is a rare autosomal recessive disease, firstly identified by Miyajima et al. in Japan in 1987. The disease is caused by the absence of an a2- glycoprotein, the ceruloplasmin (Cp), a copper-containing ferroxidase, mainly synthesized in hepatocytes and widely expressed, including the central nervous system, which catalyses the oxidation of ferrous to ferric iron, a change required for release of iron to plasma transferrin.