Inflammatory cells
Classically activated macrophages, also called M1 macrophages, contribute to tissue inflammation, oxidative stress, and damage. Macrophages can be alternatively activated to the M2 phenotype that is involved in fibrosis and tissue remodeling. In vitro , using cultured thioglycolate-elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages, MR activation resulted in increased expression of the M1 classical activation markers (Usher et al., 2010). Complementarily, MR-deficient macrophages showed reduced expression of M1 markers and a shift towards the alternative-activated M2 phenotype (Usher et al., 2010). MR activation by aldosterone induced the activation of dendritic cells and increased polarization of CD4+ naive T cells into Th17, Th1, and decreased Treg cells (Herrada et al., 2010; Caillon et al., 2019). Aldosterone also increases the recruitment of B lymphocytes and the activation of CD8+ T cells via MR. Interestingly, aldosterone induced Gal-3 expression through MR in a human monocyte cell line and in a mouse macrophage cell line (Lin et al., 2014). Thus, there is a role for MR in macrophage polarization as well as in dendritic B and T cells activation.