Fig. 7: Schematic representation of the putative action of substance P (SP) on aldosterone production by the human adrenal gland.
From: The neuropeptide substance P regulates aldosterone secretion in human adrenals
a SP may stimulate aldosterone secretion through both an indirect vascular effect leading to an increase in adrenal blood flow and a direct action on adrenocortical cells, the two mechanisms being mediated by the NK1 receptor (NK1R). The action of SP seems to be complementary to that of Ang II which is involved in the aldosterone response to upright posture while SP may mainly control basal aldosterone production. b At the cellular level, binding of SP to the NK1R expressed by zona glomerulosa cells induces an activation of the ERK pathway but has a minor effect on the calcium signalling pathway in contrast to angiotensin II (Ang II) which strongly activates the two transduction mechanisms. Schemas created using medical diagrams available from https://smart.servier.com under a CC BY 3.0 licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
