title: Aldosterone in the brain.
abstract: Pharmacological and physiological phenomena suggest that cells somewhere inside the central nervous system are responsive to aldosterone. Here, we present the fundamental physiological limitations for aldosterone action in the brain, including its limited blood-brain barrier penetration and its substantial competition from glucocorticoids. Recently, a small group of neurons with unusual sensitivity to circulating aldosterone were identified in the nucleus of the solitary tract. We review the discovery and characterization of these neurons, which express the enzyme 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2, and consider alternative proposals regarding sites and mechanisms for mineralocorticoid action within the brain.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Anatomy and Neurobiology-Box 8108, Washington Univ. School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. joel.geerling@gmail.com
authors.forename: Joel C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Geerling
authors.forename: Arthur D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Loewy
mesh_terms: D043209:11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D000450:Aldosterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008901:Mineralocorticoids / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism*; D017552:Solitary Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D008901:Mineralocorticoids; D000450:Aldosterone; D012964:Sodium; D043209:11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 2