Effect of acid-base disturbances on aldosterone secretion in man

The present study was carried out to elucidate whether changes in blood pH induced by administration of alkalinizing and acidifying agents influence aldosterone secretion in man. Since aldosterone secretion is known to be regulated by various factors such as the renin-angiotensin system, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and serum potassium concentration, these indices were simultaneously measured during manipulation. Oral administration of tris hydroxymethyl aminomethane (THAM) resulted in a moderate but not significant decrease in serum aldosterone together with an increase in blood pH, whereas plasma renin activity (PRA) remained unchanged and serum potassium was elevated. ACTH and cortisol decreased significantly. Following CaCO3 ingestion, blood pH, serum potassium concentration, and hormones did not change significantly compared with before ingestion. NH4Cl ingestion showed a significant fall of blood pH and serum cortisol, on the other hand, aldosterone increased significantly compared with CaCO3 ingestion. Following NaHCO3 ingestion, serum aldosterone decreased with an increase in blood pH compared with before ingestion, while serum cortisol and PRA did not change significantly. The overall results of experiments using THAM, CaCO3, NaHCO3, and NH4Cl led to the conclusion that under acid-base disturbances a change in aldosterone can not be induced by either renin-angiotensin or ACTH. We suggest that under acid-base disturbances blood pH may be related, at least, in part to changes in aldosterone in humans.