Cardiac valve cells
Recently, it has been demonstrated that MR pathway regulates the phenotypic, molecular, and histological changes of valve interstitial cells (VICs) and valve endothelial cells (VECs) (Ibarrola et al., 2020b). In VICs, the effects of aldosterone/MR activation were mediated by CT-1, whereas the effects of the mineralocorticoid were mediated by CD14 in VECs. Thus, VIC activation, endothelial-mesenchymal transition and proteoglycan deposition seem to be MR-dependent mechanisms (Ibarrola et al., 2020b). Moreover, MRA treated patients with mitral valve prolapse displayed lower levels of proteoglycans in the mitral valves. Altogether, MRA treatment appears to be a promising option to reduce fibromyxomatous alterations in patients with mitral valve prolapse (Ibarrola et al., 2020b).