Effects of aldosterone on intralymphocytic sodium and potassium in patients with primary aldosteronism

In vitro effects of aldosterone have been described with regard to the intracellular sodium and potassium concentrations of human mononuclear leukocytes. In the present paper the in vitro effect of aldosterone on the intracellular sodium and potassium of human mononuclear leukocytes in 6 patients with primary aldosteronism was investigated. Except for one patient with elevated intracellular electrolytes, sodium and potassium in mononuclear leukocytes of patients with aldosteronism without incubation were within the range for normals. In the patients, no significant change of intracellular sodium or potassium was observed during incubation with or without aldosterone (1.4 nmol/l), whereas in normals, the loss of sodium and potassium during incubation without aldosterone was prevented by 1.4 nmol/l aldosterone. This insensitivity to aldosterone indicates that intracellular electrolytes in mononuclear leukocytes of patients with primary aldosteronism are kept in normal ranges by mechanism which are independent of mineralocorticoids and may represent the cellular correlate to the renal 'escape' phenomenon in aldosteronism.