BACKGROUND Aldosterone and angiotensin (Ang) II both may cause organ damage. Circulating aldosterone is produced in the adrenals; however, local cardiac synthesis has been reported. Aldosterone concentrations depend on the activity of aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2). We tested the hypothesis that reducing aldosterone by inhibiting CYP11B2 or by adrenalectomy (ADX) may ameliorate organ damage. Fu...

Our understanding of the effects of aldosterone and its mechanisms has increased substantially in recent years, probably because of the importance of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonists in several major cardiovascular diseases. Recent clinical studies have confirmed the benefits of MR antagonists in patients with heart failure, left ventricular dysfunction after myocardial infarctio...

three siblings (1 boy, 2 girls) with hypertension and hypokalemia are presented, two with low plasma aldosterone and suppressed renin activity and the eldest with a high renin and aldosterone level due to secondary changes in her kidneys. urinary tetrahydrocortisol (thf) was increased relative to tetrahydrocortisone (the). cortisol ring a reduction constant was also lower than normal. these fin...

To the Editor: We congratulate Dr Schiffrin for his excellent review on the effects of aldosterone on the vasculature. 1 Recent reports have clearly demonstrated the endocrine properties of aldosterone have assumed a broader perspective, with nonclassic actions acting on nonepithelial cells and in nonrenal target tissues including the heart and the kidney. Dr Schiffrin extends this formulation ...

Elevated aldosterone levels induce a spironolactone-inhibitable decrease in cardiac sarcolemmal Na+-K+ pump function. Because pump inhibition has been shown to contribute to myocyte hypertrophy, restoration of Na+-K+ pump function may represent a possible mechanism for the cardioprotective action of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) blockade. The present study examines whether treatment with the ...

Aldosterone production occurs in the adrenal cortex, and is regulated primarily by angiotensin II (Ang II), potassium and adrenocorticotropin (ACTH). In the presence of the aldosterone stimulators, steroidogenesis is further governed by local autocrine and/or paracrine factors in the adrenal cortex. We reported the presence of functional bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) system in the adrenal co...

OBJECTIVE The comorbidity of excess salt and elevated plasma aldosterone has deleterious effects in cardiovascular disease. We evaluated the mechanisms behind the paradoxical increase in aldosterone biosynthesis in relation to dietary intake of salt. METHODS AND RESULTS Dahl salt-sensitive (Dahl-S) and salt-resistant (Dahl-R) rats were fed a high-salt diet, and plasma and tissue levels of ald...

Aldosterone lowers protein kinase C (PKC) activity in myocyte-enriched cultures from neonatal Sprague-Dawley rat hearts, with activity measured by the transfer of phosphate to myristolated alanine-rich C-kinase substrate, in the presence of Ca2+, phosphatidylserine, and diolein. The effect is rapid, with a significant effect after 1 min exposure, half maximal at < or = 1 nM aldosterone, with st...

Aldosterone is a downstream effector of angiotensin II in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and binds to the mineralocorticoid receptor. The classical view of aldosterone primarily acting at the level of the kidneys to regulate plasma potassium and intravascular volume status is being supplemented by evidence of new "off-target" effects of aldosterone in other organ systems. The genomic ...

Aldosterone plays an important role in the pathogenesis of hypertension. We previously demonstrated that nongenomic signaling by aldosterone in vascular smooth muscle cells occurs through c-Src-dependent pathways. Here we tested the hypothesis that upregulation of c-Src by aldosterone plays a role in increased mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase activation, [3H]-proline incorporation, and NA...