What is the hormone deficiency associated with Addison's disease

Addison's disease, also called primary adrenal insufficiency, results from destruction or dysfunction of the adrenal cortex. The adrenal cortex produces three classes of hormones: glucocorticoids (primarily cortisol), mineralocorticoids (primarily aldosterone), and androgens. In Addison's disease, all three classes are deficient, but the hallmark and most clinically critical deficiency is aldosterone, the primary mineralocorticoid. Aldosterone regulates sodium retention and potassium excretion in the kidneys; its absence leads to hyponatremia, hyperkalemia, hypotension, and volume depletion — the classic findings of Addisonian crisis. Cortisol deficiency also contributes significantly, but the question asks specifically about the hormone deficiency associated with the disease, and aldosterone is the most characteristic mineralocorticoid loss. Antidiuretic hormone is produced by the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary; it is not affected in Addison's disease. Growth hormone is an anterior pituitary hormone, also unrelated to adrenal cortical dysfunction. Estrogen is a gonadal hormone, not produced in meaningful quantities by the adrenal cortex in adults. These distractors involve entirely different endocrine axes and glands, making aldosterone the single correct answer for the hormone whose deficiency defines the pathophysiology of Addison's disease.