The role of prostaglandins in aldosterone and corticosterone secretion by isolated perfused rat zona glomerulosa cells.

The effect of PGE2 and PGA1 on aldosterone and corticosterone biosynthesis by isolated perfused rat zona glomerulosa cells has been studied. Incremental doses of each of the prostaglandins tested produced a progressive rise in aldosterone (3-4 fold increase for PGE2 and 2-3 fold increase for PGA1) and corticosterone (4-8 fold for PGE2 and 2-4 fold for PGA1). The cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors indomethacin and meclofenamate however produced no effect on basal steroidogenesis. PGE2 produced a marked potentiation of angiotensin II-induced aldosterone secretion (45.7 +/- 13.6 to 144.3 +/- 19.4 pg/ml with angiotensin II alone and 78.4 +/- 16.6 to 269.9 +/- 39.5 pg/ml with angiotensin II + PGE2). In contrast, there was no effect of PGE2 on ACTH or serotonin-induced aldosterone secretion. These data show that PGE2 and PGA1 can directly stimulate rat adrenal steroidogenesis and suggest that PGE2 may play a role in mediating angiotensin II-induced aldosterone secretion by rat zone glomerulosa cells.