Question:medium
Which of the following statements about Wilson's disease is true?
Which of the following statements about Wilson's disease is true?
Show Hint
Copper cannot board ceruloplasmin so blood ceruloplasmin is low, and free copper leaks into urine.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Low serum ceruloplasmin and low urinary copper
- Low serum ceruloplasmin and high urinary copper
- High serum ceruloplasmin and low urinary copper
- High serum ceruloplasmin and high urinary copper
Show Solution
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Reason from the underlying biology. In Wilson's disease the ATP7B copper carrier in the liver is faulty. Two things follow: copper cannot be attached to ceruloplasmin, and copper cannot be excreted into bile.
Take ceruloplasmin first. Since copper loading fails, the liver makes and secretes less functional ceruloplasmin, so its serum level drops. That fixes the first half of the answer as low.
Take urinary copper next. With biliary export blocked, copper piles up and the unbound fraction rises in the blood. The kidneys filter this free copper, so urinary copper goes up. That fixes the second half as high.
The pairing of low ceruloplasmin with high urinary copper is option B. Reject options C and D outright because they raise ceruloplasmin, which never happens here. Reject option A because it wrongly lowers urinary copper, while free copper actually spills into the urine.
\[\boxed{\text{Low serum ceruloplasmin and high urinary copper}}\]
Take ceruloplasmin first. Since copper loading fails, the liver makes and secretes less functional ceruloplasmin, so its serum level drops. That fixes the first half of the answer as low.
Take urinary copper next. With biliary export blocked, copper piles up and the unbound fraction rises in the blood. The kidneys filter this free copper, so urinary copper goes up. That fixes the second half as high.
The pairing of low ceruloplasmin with high urinary copper is option B. Reject options C and D outright because they raise ceruloplasmin, which never happens here. Reject option A because it wrongly lowers urinary copper, while free copper actually spills into the urine.
\[\boxed{\text{Low serum ceruloplasmin and high urinary copper}}\]
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