Effect of aldosterone and its receptor antagonist on proliferation of cultured rat mesangial cells

Aim To evaluate the effects of aldosterone(ALD) and spironolactone(SPI,one of the aldosterone receptor antagonists) on proliferation and cell cycle phase of cultured rat mesangial cells in vitro.Methods Proliferation of rat mesangial cells was measured by MTT assay,and cell cycle phase was examined by flow cytometric analysis.Results ALD inhibited the proliferation of rat mesangial cells in a dose and time-dependent manner by MTT assay(compared with control,P0.01),which can be suppressed by SPI.Flow cytometric analysis showed that the cell number of G1 phase increased,and that of S phase decreased in cultured rat mesangial cells stimulated with different concentrations of ALD for 24 h.Conclusion ALD inhibits the proliferation of rat mesangial cells by regulating cell cycle.