REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Cardiovascular Endocrinology
This article is part of the Research TopicHypertension and Endocrine Pathways: Molecular and Clinical PerspectivesView all 5 articles
The Adrenal Gland and Primary Aldosteronism: Anatomy, Steroidogenesis, Regulation, and Genetic Insights
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The National University of Malaysia (UKM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 2Research Center, Hospital Tunku Ampuan Besar Tuanku Aishah Rohani, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Specialist Children’s Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 3William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The adrenal glands play an essential role in maintaining homeostasis through the secretion of steroid hormones. Among these, aldosterone, a mineralocorticoid produced in the zona glomerulosa (ZG) of the adrenal cortex, regulates fluid balance and blood pressure. This review summarizes the current knowledge of adrenal anatomy, aldosterone biosynthesis and regulation, and the pathophysiology and genetic landscape of primary aldosteronism (PA), a common form of secondary hypertension. Advances in next-generation sequencing have enabled the discovery of novel somatic and germline mutations underlying PA, elucidating their roles in abnormal aldosterone production and adrenal cell proliferation. Understanding the molecular basis of aldosterone dysregulation provides critical insights into PA subtypes, informing the development of improved diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
Keywords: adrenal cell proliferation4, adrenal gland1, aldosterone dysregulation5, aldosterone3, primary aldosteronism2
Received: 31 Oct 2025; Accepted: 10 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Long and Azizan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Elena Aisha Azizan
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.