A dispensable role for P450(scc) in the overproduction of aldosterone in aldosterone-producing adenoma and idiopathic hyperaldosteronism in patients with primary aldosteronism.

Our previous study suggests that cytochrome P-450 carbon 17α-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase (P450(c17α)) correlated with the overproduction of aldosterone in aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) and idiopathic hyperaldosteronism (IHA) in patients with primary aldosteronism. To further investigate if cytochrome P-450 cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme (P450(scc)) contributes to the overproduction of aldosterone in APA and IHA and if its mRNA expression differs in APA and IHA in patients with primary aldosteronism, we studied the expression of P450(scc) mRNA in APA and idiopathic hyperplastic nodules. Total RNA was extracted from APA of eight patients diagnosed as APA, idiopathic hyperplastic nodules of four patients diagnosed as IHA, seven normal adrenal glands and one normal muscle tissue. P450(scc) mRNA was examined by Northern blot analysis. No significant difference in P450(scc) mRNA was found among normal adrenal gland, APA or idiopathic hyperplastic nodules (P > 0.05). These results suggest that P450(scc) contributes little to the overproduction of aldosterone in APA and IHA and cannot be considered as a marker to differentiate between them in patients with primary aldosteronism.