Stimulation of aldosterone production in vitro and its inhibition by spironolactone

Summary The synthesis of aldosterone was stimulated in vitro by ACTH, dibutyryl-cyclic AMP, potassium ions and angiotensin II. Aldosterone was determined by a method involving two thin layer chromatographies (TLC), a periodic acid oxidation step, and a final esterification with heptafluorobutyric anhydride to prepare the aldosterone--lactone-heptafluorobutyrate for gas chromatographic quantification with electron-capture detection. The method is described in detail.Spironolactone (6×10^–5–1×10^–4M) added to the incubation medium inhibited the synthesis of aldosterone in a dose-dependent manner, while the production of corticosterone was not affected.It is concluded that spironolactone inhibits the conversion of corticosterone to aldosterone.