Plasma aldosterone, plasma lipoproteins, obesity and insulin resistance inhumans

Aldosterone production in vitro can be affected by many hormones, autacoids , ions, and lipids, but regulation in humans is incompletely understood. We measured plasma aldosterone in adult subjects with a wide range of obesity and insulin resistance, Aldosterone levels correlated with measures of Vis ceral obesity in one predominantly male cohort and in the women of a second cohort. in the same subjects, aldosterone correlated with insulin resistan ce. Aldosterone also correlated with plasma cortisol in men and women, and with DHEA-S in women. The data suggested that visceral fat stimulates adren al steroidogenesis. We found that certain fatty acids stimulated aldosteron e production in vitro by rat adrenal cells incubated with rat hepatocytes, but not adrenal cells alone. The results suggested that fatty acids from vi sceral adipocytes induce hepatic formation of an adrenal secretagogue. This may explain the correlation of plasma steroids with Visceral obesity. Aldo sterone may contribute to vascular diseases that complicate obesity.