Endothelial cells
In human coronary endothelial cells, aldosterone specifically enhanced
intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 and promoted leukocyte adhesion
via MR (Caprio et al., 2008). In addition to inflammation, aldosterone
induced superoxide generation through NADPH oxidase activation in an
MR-dependent manner in endothelial cells (Iwashima et al., 2008).
Moreover, aldosterone-induced anti-angiogenic effects in endothelial
cells were dependent on MR activation (Lother et al., 2018b).
Aldosterone also increased endothelial cell volume through an
MR-dependent mechanism (Oberleithner et al., 2003, 2006), resulting in
increased stiffness of endothelial cells, MR-dependent cell growth
(Hillebrand et al., 2007), and reduced nitric oxide (NO) release
(Oberleithner et al., 2007). Altogether, these results show that
aldosterone/MR pathway exerts a direct effect on endothelial cells
enhancing inflammation, oxidative stress, anti-angiogenesis and
influencing their mechanical and functional properties.