A comparison of the cellular actions of polaprezinc (zinc-L-carnosine) and ZnCl2.
OBJECTIVE
Zinc supplementation has been proven to be beneficial for the prevention of some health problems. Many zinc supplements are used for medical and nutritional purposes. However, it is difficult to distinguish between them in terms of their cellular actions. We compared the cellular actions of polaprezinc (zinc-l-carnosine) with those of ZnCl(2) in order to determine whether polaprezinc has greater zinc-related actions than ZnCl(2).


METHODS
Cellular actions of polaprezinc and ZnCl(2) were estimated by flow-cytometric techniques with appropriate fluorescent probes in rat thymocytes.


RESULTS
Both agents had almost equal stimulatory effects on the intracellular Zn(2+) level and cellular level of nonprotein thiol in a similar concentration-dependent manner. However, the increase in cell lethality caused by ZnCl(2) under severe oxidative stress was significantly greater than that caused by polaprezinc.


CONCLUSIONS
There are various zinc supplements, for example, zinc gluconate, zinc picolinate, and zinc methionine. However, the differences in their cellular actions have not been elucidated to date. Such studies could distinguish between zinc supplements.
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sojo University, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan.
Hakaru
H
Seo
Ikuko
I
Ogata-Ikeda
Shiro
S
Ishida
Yoshiro
Y
Okano
Yasuo
Y
Oyama
D000818:Animals; D002336:Carnosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002712:Chlorides / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D060168:Thymocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015032:Zinc / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D017967:Zinc Compounds / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*
D002712:Chlorides; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D017967:Zinc Compounds; C061957:polaprezinc; C016837:zinc chloride; D002336:Carnosine; D015032:Zinc