Copper Levels in Cervical Mucus during Normal Menstrual Cycles

Individual cervical mucus samples, obtained throughout menstrual cycles of 10 normal ovulatory women, were analyzed for copper content using a modification of the Stoner and Dasler colorimetric method. Although there was considerable variation among the women in the amount of copper per 100 mg of dried mucus, in each individual cycle there was a marked decrease in cervical mucus copper around the time of ovulation, with highest values occurring during the postovulatory phase of the cycle. The mean contents of copper per 100 mg of dried cervical mucus were 7.0 µg in the proliferative phase, 3.2 µg in the ovulatory phase, and 19.4 µg in the secretory phase.