The role of aldosterone in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy

Kangcheng Liu; Hua Zou; Huimin Fan; Hanying Hu; Yanhua Cheng; Jingying Liu; Xiaojian Wu; Bolin Chen; Zhipeng You

doi:10.3389/fendo.2023.1163787

The role of aldosterone in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Apr 11:14:1163787. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1163787. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kangcheng Liu¹, Hua Zou¹, Huimin Fan¹, Hanying Hu¹, Yanhua Cheng¹, Jingying Liu¹, Xiaojian Wu¹, Bolin Chen², Zhipeng You¹

Affiliations

¹ Jiangxi Clinical Research Center for Ophthalmic Disease, Jiangxi Research Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Affiliated Eye Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.
² Hunan Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Eye Center of Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Abstract

Aldosterone, as a mineralocorticoid of adrenal origin, has effects that are not limited to the urinary tract. As an important regulator in Vasoactive hormone pathways, aldosterone may play an effect in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR) through the regulation of oxidative stress, vascular regulation, and inflammatory mechanisms. This implies that mineralocorticoids, including aldosterone, have great potential and value for the diagnosis and treatment of DR. Because early studies did not focus on the intrinsic association between mineralocorticoids and DR, targeted research is still in its infancy and there are still many obstacles to its application in the clinical setting. Recent studies have improved the understanding of the effects of aldosterone on DR, and we review them with the aim of exploring possible mechanisms for the treatment and prevention of DR.

Keywords: aldosterone; angiogenesis; diabetic retinopathy; inflammation; mineralocorticoid.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aldosterone / metabolism
Diabetes Mellitus* / drug therapy
Diabetic Retinopathy* / drug therapy
Diabetic Retinopathy* / etiology
Humans
Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists / therapeutic use
Mineralocorticoids / metabolism

Substances

Aldosterone
Mineralocorticoids
Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82260212) and Science and Technology Innovation Base Construction - Clinical Medicine Research Centre Project (20221ZDG02012) to ZY; the postgraduates innovation special fund project of Jiangxi province (YC2022—B051) and a grant from the Talent Development project of the Affiliated Eye Hospital of Nanchang University (No.2022X05) and to KL. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, or writing of the report.