Plasma Zinc, Copper, Leptin, and Body Composition Are Associated in Elite Female Judo Athletes.

This study evaluated levels of plasma zinc, copper, and leptin, bodycomposition, and their relationship in nine elite female judo athletes undertwo different training conditions. Body composition and biochemical measurements(hematological indexes, plasma zinc, plasma copper, and plasmaleptin) were analyzed 24 h after intense training and following a 5-d periodwithout training (no-training). Plasma leptin and plasma zinc increasedwith no-training. Plasma zinc correlated negatively with percent fat mass(r= -0.62; r=0.05) and positively with plasma leptin (r=0.83; p=0.002) in theno-training condition. Plasma copper did not change during the study and correlated positively with plasma leptin (r=0.66; p=0.05) and with percentfat mass (r=0.80; p=0.007) after training. Percent fat mass was associatednegatively with plasma zinc (r=-0.62; p=0.05) in the no-training condition.Moreover, percent fat mass was negatively associated with the Zn/Cuplasma ratio under both training conditions (r< -0.78, p< 0.001). Theseresults are consistent with the possible function of zinc as a lipid-mobilizingfactor and of copper as a limiting factor in energy metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]