Interaction of 16beta-hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone with renal mineralocorticoid receptors.

A previously unidentified mineralocorticoid, 16beta-hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone (16beta OH-DHEA) has recently been isolated from urine extracts of patients with low-renin hypertension and reported to possess one-fortieth the mineralocorticoid potency of aldosterone by bioassay. However, using a radioreceptor assay, we demonstrate the affinity of 16beta-OH-DHEA for renal 3H-aldosterone receptors to be only 0.011 per cent that of unlabeled aldosterone. 16beta-OH-DHEA therefore would not be expected to possess significant mineralocorticoid properties unless its mechanism of action involves binding to a unique class of renal receptors. Until these discrepancies between bioassayable mineralocorticoid activity and affinity for mineralocorticoid receptors can be resolved, the role of 16beta-OH-DHEA in the pathogenesis of low-renin hypertension remains speculative.