Synergic cytotoxic action induced by simultaneous application of zinc and clotrimazole in rat thymocytes

In our previous study, the application of clotrimazole, an antifungal drug, with CdCl2 or PbCl2 significantly increased cell lethality of rat thymocytes, even though their individual concentrations were ineffective in affecting the viability. This observation prompted us to study the case for the combination of clotrimazole and ZnCl2 because the use of zinc as a nutritional supplement has become common. Their combination induced very potent cytotoxic action on rat thymocytes with “bell-shape” dose–response relation. An acceleration of apoptotic process by the combination was suggested for the mechanism. The present result may provide a new insight into toxicological characteristics of clotrimazole.