The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between aldosterone and blood pressure in a total of 220 normotensive and 293 essential hypertensive subjects in 2 genetically distinct populations-blacks and white French Canadians. The 24-hour blood pressure monitoring was performed under standardized conditions after discontinuing antihypertensive medications. Plasma renin activity an...

Studies were conducted to examine the effects of adrenalectomy (ADX) and selective, physiological adrenal corticosteroid replacement on sodium and potassium transport by the superficial loop of Henle and distal tubule of rat kidney in vivo. In the loop of Henle, ADX inhibited sodium reabsorption by 33%. Whereas dexamethasone had no effect on reabsorption, aldosterone increased sodium transport ...

Aldosterone classically promotes unidirectional transepithelial sodium transport, thereby regulating blood volume and blood pressure. Recently, both clinical and experimental studies have suggested additional, direct roles for aldosterone in the cardiovascular system. To evaluate aldosterone activation of cardiomyocyte mineralocorticoid receptors, transgenic mice overexpressing 11beta-hydroxyst...

The nongenomic effects of aldosterone have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various cardiovascular diseases. Aldosterone-induced nongenomic effects are attributable in part to the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), a classical mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. Big MAP kinase 1 (BMK1), a newly identified MAP kinase, has been shown to be involved in cell...

BACKGROUND We recently reported that normal aldosterone levels are associated with cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic disease in a sample of the US general community (Visit 1). For the current analyses we used the same cohort in a new 4-year follow-up study (Visit 2). METHODS AND RESULTS We measured aldosterone at Visit 1 and analyzed its predictive role for new diseases at Visit 2 (n=1140)...

Twenty primiparous Limousine ewes whose fetuses had been chronically catheterized in utero on day 120 of gestation were used. Plasma aldosterone levels were measured by radioimmunoassay during the last 15 days of gestation both in dams and fetuses, and during the first neonatal week in lambs. Aldosterone metabolic clearance rates in dams, fetuses and newborns were determined by continuous infus...

Aldosterone secretion (1) and aldosterone excretion in urine (2) are markedly elevated in dogs with chronic right heart failure and in dogs with chronic ascites secondary to thoracic caval constriction. It was suggested that the adrenal cortex is stimulated to secrete aldosterone by factors resulting from a high venous pressure and the consequent loss of fluid and electrolytes from the blood st...

Aldosterone facilitates cardiovascular damage by increasing blood pressure and through different mechanisms that are independent of its effects on blood pressure. In this respect, recent evidence involves aldosterone in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome. Although this relationship is complex, there is some evidence suggesting that different factors may play an important role, such as insul...

The primary adrenocortical steroids are aldosterone, synthesized in the outermost layer of cells of the adrenal cortex, the zona glomerulosa; and cortisol and corticosterone, synthesized in the next layer, or zona fasciculata. Young et al. (1) have presented data in this journal complementing other suggestions that the heart is capable of synthesizing adrenocortical steroids that have physiolog...

Aldosterone induces extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-dependent cardiac remodeling. Fenofibrate improves cardiac remodeling in adult rat ventricular myocytes (ARVM) partly via inhibition of aldosterone-induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation and inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases. We sought to determine whether aldosterone caused apoptosis in cultured ARVM and whether fenofibrate ameliora...