Aldosterone effects on water and electrolyte metabolism

ABSTRACT The effects of constant infusions of small doses of adrenal steroid hormones on sodium, potassium and water metabolism were studied in male adrenalectomized rats. An infusion of 1 μg aldosterone/day was sufficient to restore normal sodium and potassium balance in a group of rats fed an unsupplemented diet. Log doses of aldosterone (0·1–10 μg/day for 4 days) administered some days after adrenalectomy caused linear increases in the body weight of rats fed a sodium-supplemented diet (0·05 m-NaCl as drinking fluid) during 4 days of treatment. Increases in body weight correlated with renal sodium and water balance. When steroid treatment was started at the time of adrenalectomy, sodium balance was not significantly affected although rats treated with 1 μg aldosterone/day ate more, drank less saline, produced a smaller volume of urine of greater osmolarity and gained more weight than controls. A dose of 100 μg 18-hydroxy-deoxycorticosterone/day had no significant effects. Fluid intake and urine volume were not significantly affected by 1 mg corticosterone/day but food intake, water balance and weight gain were greater than controls. Rats treated with both aldosterone and corticosterone showed a decrease in free water clearance. Aldosterone and corticosterone, both singly and in combination, reduced plasma potassium levels. Plasma sodium levels were only increased when aldosterone was administered on its own. Long-term steroid infusions have revealed more about the physiology of aldosterone action than could acute measurements of renal function. In particular, they have indicated that dietary intake of electrolytes as well as excretion are affected, that mineralocorticoid actions are distinct from glucocorticoid actions and that there are transient effects of aldosterone on fluid regulation which are not sustained under steady-state conditions. J. Endocr. (1984) 100,93–100