Fat cells may be the obesity-hypertension link: human adipogenic factors stimulate aldosterone secretion from adrenocortical cells.

Obesity has become an epidemic problem in Western societies contributing to several disease processes including metabolic diseases, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Overweight and obesity are frequently associated with increased plasma levels of aldosterone suggesting a direct link between obesity hypertension and increased mineralocorticoid levels. The adipocyte has long been suggested to be directly involved in the regulation of the body's homeostasis and recent evidence now proves that human fat is a highly active endocrine tissue. We therefore tested the hypothesis that adipocyte secretory products directly stimulate adrenocortical aldosterone secretion. Indeed, secretory products from isolated human adipocytes strongly stimulated steroidogenesis in human adrenocortical cells (NCI-H295R), as well as in bovine adrenocortical cells with a predominant effect on mineralocorticoid secretion. In conclusion, a possible direct link exists between fat tissue metabolism and adrenal mineralocorticoid secretion that may be responsible for obesity-related hypertension.