Fig. 1: Zinc ionophores cause vasorelaxation of rat and human isolated arteries and decrease blood pressure.
From: Zinc drives vasorelaxation by acting in sensory nerves, endothelium and smooth muscle
a Chemical structures of the zinc ionophores used: zinc pyrithione (i), zinc disulfiram (ii), clioquinol (iii), Zn(DTSM) (iv), and zinc-bis-histidinate (v). b Relaxation responses to zinc ionophores in rat mesenteric arteries contracted with the thromboxane-mimetic, U46619 (U tone). A representative trace showing the effects of zinc pyrithione on a U-contracted rat mesenteric artery (c) and averaged data in different arteries (d). e Relaxation responses to zinc ionophores in rat saphenous vein. f, g Relaxation of human isolated internal mammary arteries (f) and saphenous veins (g) by selected zinc ionophores. h In vivo depressor effects of successive, escalating-dose bolus intravenous injections of Zn(DTSM) on mean arterial pressure (MAP) in anaesthetized rats. In b and d–g the contractions are presented as a % of the KPSS (124 mM K+)-evoked contractions (Supplementary Table 1). Error bars are SEM (those not shown are contained within the symbol); horizontal error bars are for the average EC50. n, number of rats or arteries isolated from separate rats/humans. *Statistically significant, two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test (T(8) = 5.032) at 5 min compared to the equivalent dose of vehicle.
