Molybdenum

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Copper
In the stomachs of cattle, sheep and other ruminants, molybdenum and sulfur combine into tetrathiomolybdate, which grips copper tightly, so livestock on high-molybdenum feed become copper deficient; this is mainly a ruminant phenomenon. The same copper-gripping ability has led to tetrathiomolybdate being studied as a copper-lowering drug for Wilson's disease, in which copper builds up in the body.

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How molybdenum fits into enzymes

EVIDENCEGUIDE 1 · REVIEW 2

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Molybdenum never works on its own; it is the metal set inside an enzyme. And the body does not use bare molybdenum atoms: it first builds a base that grips the metal — the combination is called the molybdenum cofactor (MoCo) — and then fits the whole unit into the center of an enzyme. Only 4 enzymes in the human body use it, so molybdenum's story is not more is better but a few jobs cannot be done at all without it.

What that means for you: an ordinary diet supplies enough molybdenum, and apart from a very few inherited diseases, almost no one runs short because they eat too little of it.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.

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Molybdenum

Story

Connected to · 1

antagonism · 1

Copper
In the stomachs of cattle, sheep and other ruminants, molybdenum and sulfur combine into tetrathiomolybdate, which grips copper tightly, so livestock on high-molybdenum feed become copper deficient; this is mainly a ruminant phenomenon. The same copper-gripping ability has led to tetrathiomolybdate being studied as a copper-lowering drug for Wilson's disease, in which copper builds up in the body.

Read full story

Stop 1/5

How molybdenum fits into enzymes

EVIDENCEGUIDE 1 · REVIEW 2

READ THE ORIGINAL

Molybdenum never works on its own; it is the metal set inside an enzyme. And the body does not use bare molybdenum atoms: it first builds a base that grips the metal — the combination is called the molybdenum cofactor (MoCo) — and then fits the whole unit into the center of an enzyme. Only 4 enzymes in the human body use it, so molybdenum's story is not more is better but a few jobs cannot be done at all without it.

What that means for you: an ordinary diet supplies enough molybdenum, and apart from a very few inherited diseases, almost no one runs short because they eat too little of it.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.