Sodium and water homeostasis are drastically modified at birth, in mammals, by the transition from aquatic life to terrestrial life. Accumulating evidence during the past ten years underscores the central role for the mineralocorticoid signaling pathway, in the fine regulation of this equilibrium, at this critical period of development. Interestingly, regarding evolution, while the mineralocorticoid receptor is expressed in fish, the appearance of its related ligand, aldosterone, coincides with terrestrial life, as it is first detected in lungfish and amphibian. Thus, aldosterone is likely one of the main hormones regulating the transition from an aquatic environment to an air environment. This review will focus on the different actors of the mineralocorticoid signaling pathway from aldosterone secretion in the adrenal gland, to mineralocorticoid receptor expression in the kidney, summarizing their regulation and roles throughout fetal and neonatal development, in the light of evolution.

在哺乳动物中，钠和水的稳态在出生时会因从水生生物向陆地生物的转变而发生巨大变化。过去十年积累的证据强调了盐皮质激素信号通路在这个关键发展时期在这种平衡的精细调节中的核心作用。有趣的是，关于进化，虽然盐皮质激素受体在鱼类中表达，但其相关配体醛固酮的出现与陆地生命相吻合，因为它首先在肺鱼和两栖动物中被发现。因此，醛固酮可能是调节从水生环境向空气环境过渡的主要激素之一。本综述将重点关注来自肾上腺醛固酮分泌的盐皮质激素信号通路的不同参与者，