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Review
. 2019 Jun 18;7(4):e00497.
doi: 10.1002/prp2.497. eCollection 2019 Aug.

Adrenal βarrestin1 targeting for tobacco-associated cardiac dysfunction treatment: Aldosterone production as the mechanistic link

Affiliations
Review

Adrenal βarrestin1 targeting for tobacco-associated cardiac dysfunction treatment: Aldosterone production as the mechanistic link

Maria E Solesio et al. Pharmacol Res Perspect. .

Abstract

Tobacco kills 6 million people annually and its global health costs are continuously rising. The main addictive component of every tobacco product is nicotine. Among the mechanisms by which nicotine, and its major metabolite, cotinine, contribute to heart disease is the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) activation. This increases aldosterone production from the adrenals and circulating aldosterone levels. Aldosterone is a mineralocorticoid hormone with various direct harmful effects on the myocardium, including increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, which contributes significantly to cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction and cardiac aging. Aldosterone is produced in the adrenocortical zona glomerulosa (AZG) cells in response to angiotensin II (AngII), activating its type 1 receptor (AT1R). The AT1R is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that leads to aldosterone biosynthesis and secretion, via signaling from both Gq/11 proteins and the GPCR adapter protein βarrestin1, in AZG cells. Adrenal βarrestin1 is essential for AngII-dependent adrenal aldosterone production, which aggravates heart disease. Since adrenal βarrestin1 is essential for raising circulating aldosterone in the body and tobacco compounds are also known to elevate aldosterone levels in smokers, accelerating heart disease progression, our central hypothesis is that nicotine and cotinine increase aldosterone levels to induce cardiac injury by stimulating adrenal βarrestin1. In the present review, we provide an overview of the current literature of the physiology and pharmacology of adrenal aldosterone production regulation, of the effects of tobacco on this process and, finally, of the effects of tobacco and aldosterone on cardiac structure and function, with a particular focus on cardiac mitochondrial function. We conclude our literature account with a brief experimental outline, as well as with some therapeutic perspectives of our pharmacological hypothesis, that is that adrenal βarrestin1 is a novel molecular target for preventing tobacco-induced hyperaldosteronism, thereby also ameliorating tobacco-related heart disease development.

Keywords: adrenal cortex; aldosterone; angiotensin II; nicotine; tobacco–related heart disease; βarrestin.

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Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The effect of nicotine/cotinine on RAAS components and on downstream signaling of AngII in adrenocortical cells leading to aldosterone production. The elevated RAAS activity and the putative upregulation of adrenal βarrestin1 (βarr1) by the tobacco compounds nicotine/cotinine are schematically illustrated. AGT: Angiotensinogen; AngI: Angiotensin I; AngIII: Angiotensin III; AngIV: Angiotensin IV; “+” denotes upregulation, that is nicotine/cotinine upregulate AGT to AngI conversion (mediated by renin), AngI to AngII conversion (mediated by angiotensin converting enzyme‐1), and the expression (both mRNA & protein) levels of AT1R. Nicotine/cotinine also putatively upregulate adrenocortical βarr1 expression. See text for more details and for all other acronym descriptions
Figure 2
Figure 2
Major mitochondrial effects of aldosterone, through its mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), in the tobacco–exposed heart. Tobacco–elevated aldosterone increases oxidative stress and impairs calcium homeostasis via the MR, causing mitochondrial dysfunction in cardiomyocytes. SOD: Superoxide dismutase. See text for more details and for all other acronym descriptions. Adapted from 48

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