This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lampron, A. Articles by Lacroix, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lampron, A. Articles by Lacroix, A. Related Collections Adrenal and Hypertension Endocrine Oncology

Regulation of Aldosterone Secretion by Several Aberrant Receptors Including for Glucose-Dependent Insulinotropic Peptide in a Patient with an Aldosteronoma

Division of Endocrinology (A.L., I.B., S.O., A.G., P.H., A.L.), Department of Medicine, Division of Urology (P.A.), Department of Surgery, and Department of Pathology (W.S.), Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada H2W 1T8

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. André Lacroix, Department of Medicine, Hôtel-Dieu du CHUM, 3840 Rue Saint-Urbain, Montréal, Québec, Canada H2W 1T8. E-mail: andre.lacroix{at}umontreal.ca.

Context: Primary adrenal Cushing’s syndrome can result from the aberrant adrenal expression of several hormone receptors; this mechanism has not been explored in detail in aldosterone-producing tumors.

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate a 56-yr-old male patient with an aldosteronoma for the regulation of aldosterone secretion by aberrant hormone receptors.

Results: Renin-independent stimulation of aldosterone secretion was observed in vivo after a mixed meal, oral glucose, or administration of glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP), vasopressin, and tegaserod. The mixed meal-mediated stimulation of aldosterone was not present in five other cases of aldosteronoma. A smaller response of aldosterone after GIP infusion was observed in a normal subject. Aldosterone secretion was stimulated by GIP in primary cultures of this patient’s aldosteronoma. Increased expression of GIP receptor was found in this aldosteronoma by real-time RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. The GIP receptor protein was also found at lower levels in zona glomerulosa cells of the normal adjacent adrenal gland. Increased expression of serotonin 4 and ACTH receptors was also present in this aldosteronoma.

Conclusions: This case report provides new evidence of the implication of aberrant hormone receptors in the regulation of this aldosteronoma and suggests that further detailed studies of the role of aberrant hormone receptors in this frequent pathology should be undertaken.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. G. Ziegler, J. W. Brown, A. V. Schally, A. Erler, L. Gebauer, A. Treszl, L. Young, L. M. Fishman, J. B. Engel, H. S. Willenberg, et al. Expression of neuropeptide hormone receptors in human adrenal tumors and cell lines: Antiproliferative effects of peptide analogues PNAS, September 15, 2009; 106(37): 15879 - 15884. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]