Question

What does aldosterone regulate, and how is it stimulated?

Short answer

Aldosterone is a mineralocorticoid hormone that affects how the body regulates salt and water. It is made in the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal cortex.

Step-by-step solution

Aldosterone's

• Aldosterone's main job is to influence potassium excretion and salt and water reabsorption in the kidney's late distal tubule and collecting duct, while also assisting with acid-base balance.
• It affects epithelial sodium channels, sodium-potassium exchange pumps, hydrogen ion ATPases, and bicarbonate-chloride antiporters to carry out these functions.

Distal nephron

The mineralocorticoid steroid hormone aldosterone affects activity in the aldosterone-sensitive distal nephron, which includes the connecting tubule, the collecting duct system, and the late distal convoluted tubule.