Published in:
01-12-2012 | Editorial
The case against aldosterone: not proven
Author:
John W. Funder
Published in:
Endocrine
|
Issue 3/2012
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Excerpt
In their paper, in the current issue [
1], Fu et al. adduce three lines of evidence for aldosterone-induced osteopontin (OPN) expression in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). First, they show that spironolactone reduces vascular injury-induced neointimal hyperplasia in rat vessels in vivo. Second, aldosterone at 100 nM produces a doubling of OPN expression after 24 h (but not 6 or 12 h) exposure; OPN dose–response curves climb steadily (if disconcertingly) in a straight line for aldosterone concentrations from 1 to 100 nM. Finally, they show that MAPK, but not JUNK, pathways are involved in the acute effects of aldosterone (again at 100 nM) to elevate OPN levels. …
