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Aldosterone
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Aldosterone is a hormone, meaning a chemical messenger that travels through the blood. It is made by the adrenal cortex, the outer layer of the small glands that sit on top of each kidney. It belongs to the mineralocorticoid family, the hormones that handle minerals: in its case, salt and water.
Its work takes place in the nephron, the microscopic tubule where the kidney makes urine. Aldosterone acts on the last stretch of that tubule, the late distal tubule and the collecting duct. There it makes sodium and water move back into the body, which is called reabsorption, and sends potassium out into the urine. In the last stretch of the kidney tubule, it decides what stays and what moves on into the urine.
That matters beyond the kidney. By moving sodium, aldosterone changes how much water stays inside, and therefore the volume of the extracellular fluid, the fluid that bathes the cells and fills the blood vessels. And through that same mechanism it influences blood pressure.
In brief
Aldosterone is a mineralocorticoid hormone from the adrenal cortex that influences how the body regulates salt and water.
It acts on the late distal tubule and the collecting duct of the nephron, promoting sodium and water reabsorption and potassium excretion.
In the last stretch of the kidney tubule, it decides what stays and what moves on into the urine.
By regulating the sodium gradient in the nephron, it changes extracellular fluid volume and, through that, blood pressure.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Aldosterone, StatPearlsPublished
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