Effect of composition of incubation medium on aldosterone and corticosterone production by isolated rat zona glomerulosa cells

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Abstract
The role of the composition of the incubation medium in determining the steroidogenic responsiveness of collagenase-dispersed rat zona glomerulosa cells was examined by studying the effect on production of aldosterone and corticosterone of (1) changes in the bovine serum albumin (BSA) concentration in Krebs–Ringer bicarbonate buffer (KRBGA), (2) dialysis of the BSA and (3) comparison of KRBGA with 'modified' Medium 199. Medium 199 was modified so that its electrolytic content was identical to that of KRBGA. Compared with 0·1–0·2% BSA in KRBGA, BSA concentrations of 0·5 and 4% caused inhibition of both basal and K+-stimulated, but not angiotensin II-stimulated steroidogenesis. This inhibitory property of BSA was not removed by dialysis. The BSA did, however, contain a dialysable factor which increased both basal steroidogenesis and the steroidogenic response to maximal K+ and angiotensin II stimulation. Both incubation media contained 0·2% BSA for the comparison of KRBGA with modified Medium 199. Modified Medium 199 increased both basal steroidogenesis and the aldosterone response to K+ stimulation (per cent increase above basal) by two- to threefold compared with KRBGA, with smaller increases in the response to ACTH and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and a decrease in the response to cyclic AMP. In contrast, modified Medium 199 increased the aldosterone response to angiotensin II by sevenfold, from 60% (in KRBGA) to 420%. In KRBGA, angiotensin II inhibited K+-stimulated aldosterone production. This effect was produced by concentrations of angiotensin II below the threshold for steroidogenesis and could be reproduced with the angiotensin II antagonist [Sar1, Ileu8]-angiotensin II. Angiotensin II did not inhibit K+-stimulated aldosterone production in modified Medium 199. These data emphasize the importance of the composition of the incubation medium in determining the steroidogenic responsiveness of rat zona glomerulosa cells in vitro. Furthermore, these data indicate that the steroidogenic response to angiotensin II, compared with K+, ACTH, 5-HT and cyclic AMP, is more readily influenced by other, as yet unidentified, factors in the incubation medium, and are consistent with recent evidence that angiotensin II and K+ do not share a common mode of action on steroidogenesis by these cells.

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