the invention is related to and describes the methods relating to discoveries surrounding increased tissue copper and mechanisms leading to tissue damage , including nerve and vascular damage , for example , diabetic nerve and / or vascular damage . it is believed , without wishing to be bound by any particular mechanism or theory of operation or effectiveness , that tissue accumulation of trace metals plays a role in the mechanisms of tissue damage in diabetes as well as in other disorders , diseases , and conditions as set forth or referenced or suggested herein . histological evidence from experiments showed that six months of treatment with trientine appears to protect the hearts of diabetic wistar rats from development of diabetic damage ( cardiomyopathy ) as judged by histology . the doses of trientine required for copper and iron to be excreted in the urine have also been investigated , for example , as well as possible differences between the excretion of these metals in diabetic and nondiabetic animals . for example , the excretion profiles of copper and iron in the urine of normal and diabetic rats were compared after acute intravenous administration of increasing doses of trientine . additionally , it was ascertained whether acute intravenous administration of trientine has acute adverse cardiovascular side effects . methods used in the experimentals were as follows . male wistar rats ( n = 28 , 303 ± 2 . 9 g ) were divided randomly into diabetic and nondiabetic groups . following induction of anesthesia ( 5 % halothane and 2 l · min − 1 o 2 ), animals in the diabetic group received a single intravenous dose of streptozotocin ( stz , 55 mg · kg − 1 body weight , sigma ; st . louis , mo .) in 0 . 5 ml saline administered via the tail vein . nondiabetic animals received an equivalent volume of saline . following injection , both diabetic and nondiabetic rats were housed in like - pairs and provided with access to normal rat chow ( diet 86 pellets ; new zealand stock feeds , auckland , nz ) and deionized water ad libitum . blood glucose and body weight were measure at day 3 following stz / saline injection and then weekly throughout the study . diabetes was identified by polydipsia , polyuria and hyperglycemia (& gt ; 11 mmol · l − 1 , advantage ii , roche diagnostics , nz ltd ). six to seven weeks ( mean = 44 ± 1 days ) after administration of stz , animals underwent either a control or drug experimental protocol . all animals were fasted overnight prior to surgery but continued to have ad libitum access to deionized water . induction and maintenance of surgical anesthesia was by 3 - 5 % halothane and 2 l · min − 1 o 2 . the femoral artery and vein were cannulated with a solid - state blood pressure transducer ( mikrotip ™ 1 . 4f , millar instruments , texas , usa ) and a saline filled pe 50 catheter respectively . the ureters were exposed via a midline abdominal incision , cannulated using polyethylene catheters ( external diameter 0 . 9 mm , internal diameter 0 . 5 mm ) and the wound sutured closed . the trachea was cannulated and the animal ventilated at 70 - 80 breaths · min − 1 with air supplemented with o 2 ( pressure controlled ventilator , kent scientific , connecticut , usa ). the respiratory rate and end - tidal pressure ( 10 - 15 cm h 2 o ) were adjusted to maintain end - tidal co 2 at 35 - 40 mm hg ( sc - 300 co 2 monitor , pryon corporation , wisconsin , usa ). body temperature was maintained at 37 ° c . throughout surgery and the experiment by a heating pad . estimated fluid loss was replaced with intravenous administration of 154 mmol · l − 1 nacl solution at a rate of 5 ml · kg − 1 · h − 1 . following surgery and a 20 min stabilization period , the experimental protocol was started . trientine was administered intravenously over 60 s in hourly doses of increasing concentration ( 0 . 1 , 1 . 0 , 10 and 100 mg · kg − 1 in 75 μl saline followed by 125 μl saline flush ). control animals received an equivalent volume of saline . urine was collected in 15 min aliquots throughout the experiment in pre - weighed polyethylene epindorph tubes . at the end of the experiment a terminal blood sample was taken by cardiac puncture and the separated serum stored at − 80 ° c . until future analysis . hearts were removed through a rapid mid - sternal thoracotomy and processed as described below . mean arterial pressure ( map ), heart rate ( hr , derived from the map waveform ) oxygen saturation ( nonin 8600v pulse oximeter , nonin medical inc ., minnesota , usa ) and core body temperature , were all continuously monitored throughout the experiment using a powerlab / 16s data acquisition module ( ad instruments , australia ). calibrated signals were displayed on screen and saved to disc as 2 s averages of each variable . instrumentation : a perkin elmer ( pe ) model 3100 atomic absorption spectrophotometer equipped with a pe hga - 600 graphite furnace and pe as - 60 furnace autosampler was used for cu and fe determinations in urine . deuterium background correction was employed . a cu or fe hollow - cathode lamp ( perkin elmer corporation ) was used and operated at either 10 w ( cu ) or 15 w ( fe ). the 324 . 8 nm atomic line was used for cu and the 248 . 3 nm atomic line for fe . the slit width for both cu and fe was 0 . 7 nm . pyrolytically coated graphite tubes were used for all analyses . the injection volume was 20 μl . a typical graphite furnace temperature program is shown below . * a pre - treatment temperature of 1050 ° c . was used for tissue digest analyses cu , fe and zn in tissue digests were also determined at hill laboratories ( hamilton , new zealand ) using either a pe sciex elan - 6000 or pe sciex elan - 6100 drc icp - ms . the operating parameters are summarized in the table below . reagents : all reagents used were of the highest purity available and at least of analytical grade . gf - aas standard working solutions of cu and fe were prepared by stepwise dilution of 1000 mg · l − 1 ( spectrosol standard solutions ; bdh ). water was purified by a millipore milli - q ultra - pure water system to a resistivity of 18 mω . standard reference material 1577b bovine liver was obtained from the national institute of standards and technology and used to evaluate the efficiency of tissue digestion . the results obtained are reported below . urine : urine was collected in pre - weighed 1 . 5 ml micro test tubes ( eppendorf ). after reweighing , the urine specimens were centrifuged and the supernatant diluted 25 : 1 with 0 . 02 m 69 % aristar grade hno 3 . the sample was stored at 4 ° c . prior to gf - aas analysis . if it was necessary to store a sample for a period in excess of 2 weeks , it was frozen and kept at − 20 ° c . heart : following removal from the animal , the heart was cleaned of excess tissue , rinsed in buffer to remove excess blood , blotted dry and a wet ventricular weight recorded . using titanium instruments a segment of left ventricular muscle was dissected and placed in a pre - weighed 5 . 0 ml polystyrene tube . the sample was freeze - dried overnight to constant weight before 0 . 45 ml of 69 % aristar grade hno 3 was added . the sample tube was heated in a water bath at 65 ° c . for 60 minutes . the sample was brought to 4 . 5 ml with milli - q h 2 o . the resulting solution was diluted 2 : 1 in order to reduce the hno 3 concentration below the maximum permitted for icp - ms analysis . serum : terminal blood samples were centrifuged and serum treated and stored as per urine until analysis . from the trace metal content of serum from the terminal blood sample and urine collected over the final hour of the experiment , renal clearance was calculated using the following equation : renal clearance of trace metal =( a ) the concentration of metal in urine ( μg · μl − 1 ) times ( b ) the rate of urine flow ( μl · min − 1 ), divided by ( c ) the concentration of metal in serum ( μg · μl − 1 ) statistical analyses were as follows : all values are expressed as mean ± sem and p values & lt ; 0 . 05 were considered statistically significant . student &# 39 ; s unpaired t - test was initially used to test for weight and glucose differences between the diabetic and control groups . for comparison of responses during drug exposure , statistical analyses were performed using analysis of variance ( statistica for windows v . 6 . 1 , sas institute inc ., calfornia , usa ). subsequent statistical analysis was performed using a mixed model repeated measures anova design . statistical analysis using a mixed linear model : data for each dose level were analyzed using a mixed linear model ( proc mixed ; sas , version 8 ). the model included diabetes , drug and their interaction as fixed effects , time as a repeated measure , and rats as the subjects in the dataset . complete independence is assumed across subjects . the full model was fitted to each dataset using a maximum likelihood estimation method ( reml ) fits mixed linear models ( i . e ., fixed and random effects models ). a mixed model is a generalization of the standard linear model , the generalization being that you can analyse data generated from several sources of variation instead of just one . a level of significance of 0 . 05 was used for all tests . the results were as follows . effects of stz on blood glucose and body weight ( table 1 ): blood glucose increased to 25 ± 2 mmol · l − 1 ′ three days following stz injection . despite a greater daily food intake , diabetic animals lost weight whilst nondiabetic animals continued to gain weight during the 44 days following stz / saline injection . on the day of the experiment blood glucose levels were 24 ± 1 and 5 ± 0 mmol · l − 1 and body weight 264 ± 7 g and 434 ± 9 g for diabetic and nondiabetic animals respectively . cardiovascular variables during infusion : baseline levels of map during the control period prior to infusion were not significantly different between nondiabetic and diabetic animals ( 99 ± 4 mm hg ). hr was significantly lower in diabetic than nondiabetic animals ( 287 ± 11 and 364 ± 9 bpm respectively , p & lt ; 0 . 001 ). infusion of trientine or saline had no effect on these variables except at the highest dose where map decreased by a maximum of 19 ± 4 mm hg for the 2 min following administration and returned to pre - dose levels within 10 min . body temperature and oxygen saturation remained stable in all animals throughout the experiment . urine excretion : diabetic animals consistently excreted significantly more urine than nondiabetic animals except in response to the highest dose of drug ( 100 mg · kg − 1 ) or equivalent volume of saline ( fig1 ). administration of the 100 mg · kg − 1 dose of trientine also increased urine excretion in nondiabetic animals to greater than that of nondiabetic animals receiving the equivalent volume of saline ( fig1 ). this effect was not seen in diabetic animals . urinary excretion of cu and fe : analysis of the dose response curves shows that , at all doses , diabetic and nondiabetic animals receiving drug excreted more cu than animals receiving an equivalent volume of saline ( fig1 ). to provide some correction for the effects of lesser total body growth of the diabetic animals , and thus to allow more appropriate comparison between diabetic and nondiabetic animals , excretion rates of trace elements were also calculated per gram of body weight . fig1 shows that diabetic animals had significantly greater copper excretion per gram of body weight in response to each dose of drug than did nondiabetic animals . the same pattern was seen in response to saline , however the effect was not always significant . total copper excreted over the entire duration of the experiment was significantly increased in both nondiabetic and diabetic animals administered trientine compared with their respective saline controls ( fig2 ). diabetic animals receiving drug also excreted more total copper per gram of body weight than nondiabetic animals receiving drug . the same significant trend was seen in response to saline administration ( fig2 ). in comparison , iron excretion in both diabetic and nondiabetic animals receiving trientine was not greater than animals receiving an equivalent volume of saline ( fig2 ). analysis per gram of body weight shows diabetic animals receiving saline excrete significantly more iron than nondiabetic animals , however this trend was not evident between diabetic and nondiabetic animals receiving trientine ( fig2 ). total iron excretion in both diabetic and nondiabetic animals receiving drug was not different from animals receiving saline ( fig2 ). in agreement with analysis of dose response curves , total iron excretion per gram of body weight was significantly greater in diabetic animals receiving saline than nondiabetic animals but this difference was not seen in response to trientine ( fig2 ). serum content and renal clearance of cu and fe ( table 2 ): while there was no significant difference in serum copper content , there was a significant increase in renal clearance of copper in diabetic animals receiving drug compared with diabetic animals receiving saline . the same pattern was seen in nondiabetic animals , although the trend was not statistically significant ( p = 0 . 056 ). there was no effect of drug or state ( diabetic versus nondiabetic ) on serum content or renal clearance of iron . metal content of cardiac tissue ( table 3 ): wet heart weights in diabetic animals were significantly less than those in nondiabetic animals while heart / body weight ratios were increased . in some animals cardiac tissue was also analyzed for cu and fe content . there was no significant difference in content of copper between diabetic and nondiabetic animals receiving saline or trientine . iron content of the non - diabetic animals administered saline was significantly greater than that of the diabetic animals administered saline . copper : diabetic rats excreted significantly higher levels of copper across all dose levels . baseline copper excretion was also significantly higher in diabetic rats compared to and prior to drug administration . the drug resulted in a significantly higher excretion of copper compared to saline at all dose levels . there was no difference at baseline levels between the drug and saline groups . the interaction effect for the model was significant at dose levels of 1 . 0 mg · kg − 1 and above . the presence of a significant interaction term means that the influence of one effect varies with the level of the other effect . therefore , the outcome of a significant interaction between the diabetes and drug factors is increased copper excretion above the predicted additive effects of these two factors . iron : diabetic rats in the saline only group excreted significantly higher levels of iron at all dose levels . this resulted in all factors in the model being significant across all dose levels . in sum , the acute effect of intravenous trientine administration on the cardiovascular system and urinary excretion of copper and iron was studied in anesthetized , diabetic ( 6 weeks of diabetes , streptozotocin induced ) and nondiabetic rats . animals were assigned to one of four groups : diabetic + trientine , diabetic + saline , nondiabetic + trientine , nondiabetic + saline . drug , or an equivalent volume of saline , was administered hourly in doses of increasing strength ( 0 . 1 , 1 . 0 , 10 , 100 mg · kg − 1 ) and urine was collected throughout the experiment in 15 min aliquots . a terminal blood sample was taken and cardiac tissue harvested . analysis of urine samples showed the following main points : at all drug doses , diabetic and nondiabetic animals receiving drug excreted more cu ( μg ) than animals receiving an equivalent volume of saline . when analyzed per gram of bodyweight , diabetic animals excreted significantly more copper ( μg · gbw − 1 ) at each dose of trientine than did nondiabetic animals . the same pattern was seen in response to saline but the effect was not significant at every dose . at most doses , in diabetic animals iron excretion ( μg ) was greater in animals administered saline than in those administered drug . in nondiabetic animals there was no difference between iron excretion in response to saline or trientine administration . analysis per gram of body weight shows no difference between iron excretion in nondiabetic and diabetic animals receiving trientine . diabetic animals receiving saline excrete more iron per gram of bodyweight than nondiabetic animals receiving saline . analysis of heart tissue showed no significant difference in total copper content between diabetic and nondiabetic animals , nor any effect of drug on cardiac content of iron and copper . renal clearance calculations showed a significant increase in clearance of copper in diabetic animals receiving trientine compared with diabetic animals receiving saline . the same trend was seen in nondiabetic animals but the affect was not significant . there was no affect of trientine on renal clearance of iron . thus , there were no adverse cardiovascular effects were observed after acute administration of trientine . trientine treatment effectively increases copper excretion in both diabetic and nondiabetic animals . the excretion of copper in urine following trientine administration is greater per gram of bodyweight in diabetic than in nondiabetic animals . iron excretion was not increased by trientine treatment in either diabetic or nondiabetic animals . experiments relating to the efficacy of trientine to restore cardiac function in stz diabetic rats were also carried out . as noted above , histological evidence from earlier studies showed that treatment with trientine appears to protect the hearts of diabetic wistar rats from development of cardiac damage ( diabetic cardiomyopathy ), as judged by histology . however , it was unknown whether this histological improvement translates into an improvement in cardiac function . one aim of this study was to use an isolated - working - rodent heart model to compare cardiac function in trientine - treated and non - treated , stz diabetic and normal rats . male albino wistar rats weighing 330 - 430 g were assigned to four experimental groups as follows : d7 = trientine treatment for 7 consecutive weeks commencing 6 weeks after the start of the experiment . diabetes was induced by intravenous streptozotocin ( stz ; sigma ; st . louis , mo .). all rats were given a short inhalational anaesthetic ( induction : 5 % halothane and 2 l / min oxygen , maintained on 2 % halothane and 2 l / min oxygen ). those in the two diabetic groups then received a single intravenous bolus dose of stz ( 57 mg / kg body weight ) in 0 . 5 ml of 0 . 9 % saline administered via a tail vein . non - diabetic sham - treated animals received an equivalent volume of 0 . 9 % saline . diabetic and non - diabetic rats were housed in like - pairs and provided with free access to normal rat chow ( diet 86 pellets ; new zealand stock feeds , auckland , nz ) and deionized water ad libitum . each cage had two water bottles on it to ensure equal access to water or drug for each animal . animals were housed at 21 degrees and 60 % humidity in standard rat cages with a sawdust floor that was changed daily . blood glucose was measured in tail - tip capillary blood samples ( advantage ii , roche diagnostics , nz ltd ). sampling was performed on all groups at the same time of the day . blood glucose and body weight were measured on day 3 following stz / saline injection and then weekly throughout the study . diabetes was confirmed by presence of polydipsia , polyuria and hyperglycemia (& gt ; 11 mmol · l − 1 ). in the drug treated diabetic group , trientine was prepared in the drinking water for each cage at a concentration of 50 mg / l . each animal consumed about 260 ml water per day once diabetes was established , to yield a total drug dose per animal per day of ˜ 13 mg / kg . the trientine - containing drinking water was administered continuously from the start of week 7 until the animal was sacrificed at the end of week 13 . in the case of the sham / d7 non - diabetic group that drank less water per day than diabetic animals , the drug concentration in their drinking water was adjusted each week so that they consumed approximately the same dose as the corresponding stz / d7 group . at the time the drug started in the diabetic group the diabetic animals were expected to have to have established cardiomyopathy , as shown by preliminary studies ( data not shown ) and confirmed in the literature . see rodrigues b , et al ., diabetes 37 ( 10 ): 1358 - 64 ( 1988 ). on the last day of the experiment , animals were anesthetized ( 5 % halothane and 2 l · min − 1 o 2 ), and heparin ( 500 iu · kg − 1 ) ( weddel pharmaceutical ltd ., london ) administered intravenously via tail vein . a 2 ml blood sample was then taken from the inferior vena cava and the heart was then rapidly excised and immersed in ice - cold krebs - henseleit bicarbonate buffer to arrest contractile activity . hearts were then placed in the isolated perfused working heart apparatus . the aortic root of the heart was immediately ligated to the aortic cannula of the perfusion apparatus . retrograde ( langendorff ) perfusion at a hydrostatic pressure of 100 cm h 2 o and at 37 ° c . was established and continued for 5 min while cannulation of the left atrium via the pulmonary vein was completed . the non - working ( langendorff ) preparation was then converted to the working heart model by switching the supply of perfusate buffer from the aorta to the left atrium at a filling pressure of 10 cm h 2 o . the left ventricle spontaneously ejected into the aortic cannula against a hydrostatic pressure ( after - load ) of 76 cm h 2 o ( 55 . 9 mm hg ). the perfusion solution was krebs - henseleit bicarbonate buffer ( mm : kcl 4 . 7 , cacl 2 2 . 3 , kh 2 po 4 1 . 2 , mgso 4 1 . 2 , nacl 118 , and nahco 3 25 ), ph 7 . 4 containing 11 mm glucose and it was continuously gassed with 95 % o 2 : 5 % co 2 . the buffer was also continuously filtered in - line ( initial 8 μm , following 0 . 4 μm cellulose acetate filters ; sartorius , germany ). the temperature of the entire perfusion apparatus was maintained by water jackets and buffer temperature was continuously monitored and adjusted to maintain hearts at 37 ° c . throughout perfusion . a modified 24 g plastic intravenous cannula ( becton dickson , utah , usa ) was inserted into the left ventricle via the apex of the heart using the normal introducer - needle . this cannula was subsequently attached to a sp844 piezo - electric pressure transducer ( ad instruments ) to continuously monitor left ventricular pressure . aortic pressure was continuously monitored through a side arm of the aortic cannula with a pressure transducer ( statham model p23xl , gould inc ., ca , usa ). the heart was paced ( digitimer ltd , heredfordshire , england ) at a rate of 300 bpm by means of electrodes attached to the aortic and pulmonary vein cannulae using supra - threshold voltages with pulses of 5 - ms duration from the square wave generator . aortic flow was recorded by an in - line flow meter ( transonic t206 , ithaca , n . y ., usa ) and coronary flow was measured by timed 30 sec collection of the coronary vein effluent at each time point step of the protocol . the working heart apparatus used was a variant of that originally described by neely , j r , et al ., am j physiol 212 : 804 - 14 ( 1967 ). the modified apparatus allowed measurements of cardiac function at different pre - load pressures ( fig1 and fig1 ). this was achieved by constructing the apparatus so that the inflow height of the buffer coming to the heart could be altered through a series of graduated steps in a reproducible manner . as in the case of the pre - load , the outflow tubing from the aorta could also be increased in height to provide a series of defined after - load pressures . the after - load heights have been converted to mm hg for presentation in the results which is in keeping with published convention . all data from the pressure transducers and flow probe were collected ( powerlab 16s data acquisition machine ; ad instruments , australia ). the data processing functions of this device were used to calculate the first derivative of the two pressure waves ( ventricular and aortic ). the final cardiac function data available comprised : cardiac output *; aortic flow ; coronary flow ; peak left ventricular / aortic pressure developed ; maximum rate of ventricular pressure development (+ dp / dt )**; maximum rate of ventricular pressure relaxation (− dp / dt )**; maximum rate of aortic pressure development ( aortic + dp / dt ); maximum rate of aortic relaxation ( aortic − dp / dt ). [* cardiac output ( co ) is the amount of buffer pumped per unit time by the heart and is comprised of buffer that is pumped out the aorta as well as the buffer pumped into the coronary vessels . this is an overall indicator of cardiac function . **+ dp / dt is the rate of change of ventricular ( or aortic pressure ) and correlates well with the strength of the contraction of the ventricle ( contractility ). it can be used to compare contractility abilities of different hearts when at the same pre - load ( textbook of medical physiology , ed . a . guyton . saunders company 1986 ). − dp / dt is an accepted measurement of the rate of relaxation of the ventricle ]. the experiment was divided into two parts , the first with fixed after - load and variable pre - load the second , which immediately followed on from the first , with fixed pre - load and variable after - load . fixed after - load and changing pre - load : after the initial cannulation was completed , the heart was initially allowed to equilibrate for 6 min at 10 cm h 2 o atrial filling pressure and 76 cm h 2 o after - load . during this period the left ventricular pressure transducer cannula was inserted and the pacing unit started . once the heart was stable , the atrial filling pressure was then reduced to 5 cm h 2 o of water and then progressively increased in steps of 2 . 5 cm h 2 o over a series of 7 steps to a maximum of 20 cm h 2 o . the pre - load was kept at each filling pressure for 2 min , during which time the pressure trace could be observed to stabilize and the coronary flow was measured . on completion of the variable pre - load experiment , the variable after - load portion of the experiment was immediately commenced . fixed pre - load and changing after - load : during this part of the experiment the filling pressure ( pre - load ) was set at 10 cm h 2 o and the after - load was then increased from 76 cm h 2 o ( 55 . 9 mm hg ) in steps of 8 cm h 2 o ( 5 . 88 mm hg ); again each step was of 2 min duration . the maximum height ( after - load ) to which each individual heart was ultimately exposed , was determined either by attainment of the maximal available after - load height of 145 cm h 2 o ( 106 . 66 mm hg ), or the height at which measured aortic flow became 0 ml / min . in the later situation , the heart was considered to have “ functionally failed .” to ensure that this failure was indeed functional and not due to other causes ( e . g ., permanent ischaemic or valvular damage ) all hearts were then returned to the initial perfusion conditions ( pre - load 10 cm h 2 o ; after - load 75 cm h 2 o ) for 4 minutes to confirm that pump function could be restored . at the end of this period the hearts were arrested with a retrograde infusion of 0 . 4 ml of cold kcl ( 24 mm ). the atria and vascular remnants were then excised , the heart blotted dry and weighed . the ventricles were incised midway between the apex and atrioventricular sulcus . measurements of the ventricular wall thickness were then made using a micro - caliper ( absolute digimatic , mitutoyo corp , japan ). data from the powerlab was extracted by averaging 1 min intervals from the stable part of the electronic trace generated from each step in the protocol . the results from each group were then combined and analyzed for differences between the groups for the various cardiac function parameters ( aortic flow , cardiac flow , mlvdp , lv or aortic +/− dp / dt ). differences between repeated observations at different pre - load conditions were explored and contrasted between study group using a mixed models approach to repeated measures ( sas v8 . 1 , sas institute inc , cary n . c .). missing random data were imputed using a maximum likelihood approach . significant mean and interaction effects were further examined using the method of tukey to maintain a pairwise 5 % error rate for post hoc tests . all tests were two - tailed . survival analysis was done using proc liftest ( sas v8 . 2 ). a one - way analysis of variance was used to test for difference between groups in various weight parameters . tukey &# 39 ; s tests were used to compare each group with each other . in each graph unless otherwise stated . * indicates p & lt ; 0 . 05 = stz v stz / d7 , #. p & lt ; 0 . 05 = stz / d7 v sham / d7 . results showing that the weights of the animals at the end of the experimental period are found in table 4 . diabetic animals were about 50 % smaller than their corresponding age matched normals . a graph of the percentage change in weight for each experimental group is found in fig5 , wherein the arrow indicates the start of trientine treatment . blood glucose values for the three groups of rats are presented in fig6 . generally , the presence of diabetes was established and confirmed within 3 - 5 days following the stz injection . the sham and sham / d7 control group remained normoglycemic throughout the experiment . treatment with the drug made no difference to the blood glucose profile ( p = ns ) in either treated group compared to their respective appropriate untreated comparison group . final heart weight and ventricular wall thickness measurements are presented in table 5 . there was a small but significant improvement in the “ heart : body weight ” ratio with treatment in the diabetic animals . there was a trend toward improved “ ventricular wall thickness : bodyweight ” ratio in treated diabetics compared to non - treated but this did not reach significance . part i results : the following graphs of fig7 to 12 represent cardiac performance parameters of the animals ( stz diabetic ; stz diabetic + drug ; and sham - treated controls ) while undergoing increasing atrial filling pressure ( 5 - 20 cm h 2 o , pre - load ) with a constant after - load of 75 cm h 2 o . all results are mean ± sem . in each graph for clarity unless otherwise stated , only significant differences related to the stz / d7 the other groups are shown : * indicates p & lt ; 0 . 05 for stz v stz / d7 , # p & lt ; 0 . 05 for stz / d7 v sham / d7 . unless stated , stz / d7 v sham or sham / d7 was not significant . cardiac output ( fig7 ) is the sum to the aortic flow ( fig1 ) and the coronary flow as displayed in fig8 . since the control hearts and experimental groups have significantly different final weights , the coronary flow is also presented ( fig9 ) as the flow normalized to heart weight ( note that coronary flow is generally proportional to cardiac muscle mass , and therefore to cardiac weight ) the first derivative of the pressure curve gives the rate of change in pressure development in the ventricle with each cardiac cycle and the maximum positive rate of change (+ dp / dt ) value is plotted in fig1 . the corresponding maximum rate of relaxation (− dp / dt ) is in fig1 . similar results showing improvement in cardiac function were found from the data derived from the aortic pressure cannula ( results not shown ). under conditions for constant pre - load and increasing after - load the ability of the hearts to cope with additional after - load work was assessed . the plot of functional survival , that is the remaining number of hearts at each after - load that still had an aortic output of greater than 0 ml / min is found in fig1 and table 6 . treatment with trientine had no obvious effect on blood glucose concentrations in the two diabetic groups ( as expected ). there was a small but significant improvement in the ( heart weight )/( body weight ) ratio in the trientine - treated diabetic group compared to that of the untreated diabetic group . when the pre - load was increased with the after - load held constant , cardiac output was restored to sham values . both the aortic and absolute coronary flows improved in the drug treated group . indicators for ventricular contraction and relaxation were both significantly improved in the drug treated group compared to equivalent values in the untreated diabetic group . the improvement restored function to such an extent that there was no significant difference between the drug treated and the sham - treated control groups . the aortic transducer measures of pressure change also showed improved function in the drug treated diabetic group compared to the untreated diabetics ( data not shown ). when after - load was increased in the presence of constant pre - load , it was observed that the heart &# 39 ; s ability to function at higher after - loads was greatly improved in the drug treated diabetic group compared to the untreated diabetic group . when 50 % of the untreated diabetic hearts had failed , about 90 % of the trientine treated diabetic hearts were still functioning . compared to the untreated diabetic hearts , the response of the drug treated diabetic hearts showed significant improvements in several variables : cardiac output , aortic flow , coronary flow , as well as improved ventricular contraction and relaxation indices . drug treatment of normal animals had no adverse effects on cardiac performance . it is concluded that treatment of stz diabetic rats with trientine dramatically improves several measures of cardiac function . it is also concluded that administration of oral trientine for 7 weeks in wistar rats with previously established diabetes of 6 weeks duration resulted in a global improvement in cardiac function . this improvement was demonstrated by improved contractile function (; + dp / dt ) and a reduction in ventricular stiffness (− dp / dt ). the overall ability of the trientine treated diabetic heart to tolerate increasing after - load was also substantially improved . therapeutic formulations for use in the methods and preparation of the compositions of the present invention can be prepared by any methods well known in the art of pharmacy . see , for example , gilman et al . ( eds .) g oodman and g ilman &# 39 ; s : t he p harmacological b ases of t herapeutics ( 8th ed .) pergamon press ( 1990 ); and remington , t he s cience of p ractice and p harmacy , 20th edition . ( 2001 ) mack publishing co ., easton , pa . ; avis et al . ( eds .) ( 1993 ) p harmaceutical d osage f orms : p arenteral m edications dekker , n . y . ; lieberman et al . ( eds .) ( 1990 ) p harmaceutical d osage f orms : t ablets dekker , n . y . ; and lieberman et al . ( eds .) ( 1990 ) p harmaceutical d osage f orms : d isperse s ystems dekker , n . y . dosage forms useful herein include any appropriate dosage form well known in the art to be suitable for pharmaceutical formulation of compounds suitable for administration to mammals particularly humans , particularly ( although not solely ) those suitable for stabilization in solution of therapeutic compounds for administration to mammals preferably humans . the dosage forms of the invention thus include any appropriate dosage form now known or later discovered in the art to be suitable for pharmaceutical formulation of compounds suitable for administration to mammals particularly humans , particularly ( although not solely ) those suitable for stabilization in solution of compounds for administration to mammals preferably humans . one example is oral delivery forms of tablet , capsule , lozenge , or the like form , or any liquid form such as syrups , aqueous solutions , emulsion and the like , capable of protecting the compound from degradation prior to eliciting an effect , for example , in the alimentary canal if an oral dosage form . examples of dosage forms for transdermal delivery include transdermal patches , transdermal bandages , and the like . included within the topical dosage forms are any lotion , stick , spray , ointment , paste , cream , gel , etc ., whether applied directly to the skin or via an intermediary such as a pad , patch or the like . examples of dosage forms for suppository delivery include any solid or other dosage form to be inserted into a bodily orifice ( particularly those inserted rectally , vaginally and urethrally ). examples of dosage units for transmucosal delivery include depositories , solutions for enemas , pessaries , tampons , creams , gels , pastes , foams , nebulised solutions , powders and similar formulations containing in addition to the active ingredients such carriers as are known in the art to be appropriate . examples of dosage units for depot administration include pellets or small cylinders of active agent or solid forms wherein the active agent is entrapped in a matrix of biodegradable polymers , microemulsions , liposomes or is microencapsulated . examples of implantable infusion devices include any solid form in which the active agent is encapsulated within or dispersed throughout a biodegradable polymer or synthetic , polymer such as silicone , silicone rubber , silastic or similar polymer . alternatively dosage forms for infusion devices may employ liposome delivery systems . depending on the disease to be treated and the subject &# 39 ; s condition , the compounds of the present invention may be administered by oral , parenteral ( for example , intramuscular , intraperitoneal , intravenous , icv , intracisternal injection or infusion , subcutaneous injection , or implant ), by inhalation spray , nasal , vaginal , rectal , sublingual , or topical routes of administration and may be formulated , alone or together , in suitable dosage unit formulations containing conventional non - toxic pharmaceutically acceptable carriers , adjuvants and vehicles appropriate for each route of administration . the pharmaceutical composition and method of the present invention may further comprise other therapeutically active compounds as noted herein which are usually applied in the treatment of the above mentioned conditions . in the treatment or prevention of conditions which require copper modulation an appropriate dosage level will generally be about 0 . 001 to 100 mg per kg patient body weight per day which can be administered in single or multiple doses . preferably , the dosage level will be about 0 . 01 to about 25 mg / kg per day ; more preferably about 0 . 05 to about 10 mg / kg per day . a suitable dosage level may be about 0 . 01 to 25 mg / kg per day , about 0 . 05 to 10 mg / kg per day , or about 0 . 1 to 5 mg / kg per day . within this range the dosage may be about 0 . 005 to about 0 . 05 , 0 . 05 to 0 . 5 or 0 . 5 to 5 mg / kg per day . for oral administration , the compositions are preferably provided in the form of tablets containing about 1 to 1000 milligrams of the active ingredient , particularly about 1 , 5 , 10 , 15 , 20 , 25 , 50 , 75 , 100 , 150 , 200 , 250 , 300 , 400 , 500 , 600 , 750 , 800 , 900 , and 1000 milligrams of the active ingredient for the symptomatic adjustment of the dosage to the patient to be treated . the compounds may be administered on a regimen of 1 to 4 times per day , preferably once or twice per day . it will be understood , however , that the specific dose level and frequency of dosage for any particular patient may be varied and will depend upon a variety of factors including the activity of the specific compound employed , the metabolic stability and length of action of that compound , the age , body weight , general health , sex , diet , mode and time of administration , rate of excretion , drug combination , the severity of the particular condition , and the host undergoing therapy . the compounds of the present invention can be combined with other compounds having related utilities to prevent and treat tissue damage or excess tissue copper . all patents , publications , scientific articles , web sites , and other documents and materials referenced or mentioned herein are indicative of the levels of skill of those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains , and each such referenced document and material is hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if it had been incorporated by reference in its entirety individually or set forth herein in its entirety . applicants reserve the right to physically incorporate into this specification any and all materials and information from any such patents , publications , scientific articles , web sites , electronically available information , and other referenced materials or documents . the specific methods and compositions described herein are representative of preferred embodiments and are exemplary and not intended as limitations on the scope of the invention . other objects , aspects , and embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of this specification , and are encompassed within the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the claims . it will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that varying substitutions and modifications may be made to the invention disclosed herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . the invention illustratively described herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element or elements , or limitation or limitations , which is not specifically disclosed herein as essential . thus , for example , in each instance herein , in embodiments or examples of the present invention , any of the terms “ comprising ”, “ consisting essentially of ”, and “ consisting of ” may be replaced with either of the other two terms in the specification . as used herein the term “ and / or ” means both “ and ” and “ or ”. as used herein the addition of “( s )” as part of a word embraced both the singular and plural of that word . also , the terms “ comprising ”, “ including ”, containing ”, etc . are to be read expansively and without limitation . the methods and processes illustratively described herein suitably may be practiced in differing orders of steps , and that they are not necessarily restricted to the orders of steps indicated herein or in the claims . it is also that as used herein and in the appended claims , the singular forms “ a ,” “ an ,” and “ the ” include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise . under no circumstances may the patent be interpreted to be limited to the specific examples or embodiments or methods specifically disclosed herein . under no circumstances may the patent be interpreted to be limited by any statement made by any examiner or any other official or employee of the patent and trademark office unless such statement is specifically and without qualification or reservation expressly adopted in a responsive writing by applicants . the terms and expressions that have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation , and there is no intent in the use of such terms and expressions to exclude any equivalent of the features shown and described or portions thereof , but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention as claimed . thus , it will be understood that although the present invention has been specifically disclosed by preferred embodiments and optional features , modification and variation of the concepts herein disclosed may be resorted to by those skilled in the art , and that such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims . the invention has been described broadly and generically herein . each of the narrower species and subgeneric groupings falling within the generic disclosure also form part of the invention . this includes the generic description of the invention with a proviso or negative limitation removing any subject matter from the genus , regardless of whether or not the excised material is specifically recited herein . other embodiments are within the following claims . in addition , where features or aspects of the invention are described in terms of markush groups , those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the markush group .
methods are provided for reducing copper values for , by way of example , treating , preventing or ameliorating tissue damage such as , for example , tissue damage that may be caused by disorders of the heart muscle such as idiopathic cardiomyopathy , metabolic cardiomyopathy which includes diabetic cardiomyopathy , alcoholic cardiomyopathy , drug - induced cardiomyopathy , ischemic cardiomyopathy , and hypertensive cardiomyopathy , atheromatous disorders of the major blood vessels such as the aorta , the coronary arteries , the carotid arteries , the cerebrovascular arteries , the renal arteries , the iliac arteries , the femoral arteries , and the popliteal arteries , toxic , drug - induced , and metabolic such as the retinal arterioles , the glomerular arterioles , the vasa nervorum , cardiac arterioles , and associated capillary beds of the eye , the kidney , the heart , and the central and peripheral nervous systems , plaque rupture of atheromatous lesions of major blood vessels such as the aorta , the coronary arteries , the carotid arteries , the cerebrovascular arteries , the renal arteries , the iliac arteries , the fermoral arteries and the popliteal arteries , diabetes or the complications of diabetes .