Question:medium
Mineralocorticoid receptor is not present in?
Mineralocorticoid receptor is not present in?
Show Hint
Think of aldosterone targets: kidney, colon, heart, hippocampus, not the hepatocyte.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Liver
- Colon
- Hippocampus
- Kidney
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Aldosterone acts through the mineralocorticoid receptor, a member of the nuclear-receptor superfamily (NR3C2, gene on chromosome 4). To answer where the receptor is absent, it helps to recall where it is present and why.
Epithelial targets carry MR to drive sodium handling: the distal nephron of the kidney and the colon both use MR to upregulate the epithelial sodium channel, the sodium-potassium pump and the kinase SGK1, so that sodium and water are retained while potassium is lost. This expands extracellular fluid volume and supports blood pressure.
Beyond classic salt-transporting epithelia, MR is also found in non-epithelial sites, notably the heart, brown fat, sweat glands and the central nervous system, where the hippocampus is a well-known MR-rich region involved in stress and corticosteroid signalling.
Comparing the four options against this list, kidney, colon and hippocampus are all established MR-bearing tissues. The liver does not figure among mineralocorticoid target organs, so it is the tissue lacking the receptor.
\[\boxed{\text{Liver}}\]
Epithelial targets carry MR to drive sodium handling: the distal nephron of the kidney and the colon both use MR to upregulate the epithelial sodium channel, the sodium-potassium pump and the kinase SGK1, so that sodium and water are retained while potassium is lost. This expands extracellular fluid volume and supports blood pressure.
Beyond classic salt-transporting epithelia, MR is also found in non-epithelial sites, notably the heart, brown fat, sweat glands and the central nervous system, where the hippocampus is a well-known MR-rich region involved in stress and corticosteroid signalling.
Comparing the four options against this list, kidney, colon and hippocampus are all established MR-bearing tissues. The liver does not figure among mineralocorticoid target organs, so it is the tissue lacking the receptor.
\[\boxed{\text{Liver}}\]
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