Adaptation of cardiac muscle to an increased workload may result from improved
myocardial performance and/or by hypertrophy. In about half the patients with untreated
high blood pressure, hypertrophy of the left ventricle muscle was observed. Studies in
animals and human have shown that arterial hypertension brings about changes in zinc
metabolism such as redistribution of zinc within intracellular compartments. Increased zinc
in heart tissue was found in rats with spontaneous hypertension (SHR). In coronary heart
disease patients, the zinc content of myocardial tissue correlated positively with cardiac
output parameters