Copper and lipid metabolism: A reciprocal relationship

Copper and lipid metabolism are intimately linked, sharing a complex, inverse relationship in the periphery (outside of the central nervous system), which remains to be fully elucidated. Copper and lipids have independently been implicated in the pathogenesis of diseases involving dyslipidaemia, including obesity, cardiovascular disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and also in Wilson disease, an inherited disorder of copper overload. Here we review the relationship between copper and lipid regulatory pathways, which are potential druggable targets for therapeutic intervention. While the inverse relationship between copper and lipids is apparent, tissue-specific roles for the copper regulatory protein, ATP7B provide further insight into the association between copper and lipid metabolism. Understanding the relationship between copper and lipid metabolism is important for identifying druggable targets for diseases with disrupted copper and/or lipid metabolism; and may reveal similar connections within the brain and in neurological diseases with impaired copper and lipid transport. •Copper and lipid metabolism share a complex, inverse relationship in the periphery.•Increased cellular copper downregulates lipids and lipogenic genes, and vice versa.•Obesity and increased dietary cholesterol correspond with decreased tissue copper.•Genetic or dietary-induced increase in copper blunts the effects of a high fat diet.•Copper transport protein ATP7B plays a role in regulating fat metabolism.