Glomerular Filtration Flashcards
Describe the. Urinary system
Bean-shaped organs, located just under the rib cage behind the peritoneal cavity, close to the posterior abdominal wall, one each side of the vertebral column
- Approximately three vertebrae in length (T12 to L3). Adrenal glands sits immediately superior to the kidneys
- The rounded, outer convex surface of each kidney faces the side of the kidney faces the side of the body, and the indented surface, called the hilum, faces the spine.
- Renal colic is pain in the flank that radiates toward the groin. It is usually severe and most commonly caused by renal canaculi (kidney stones)
What are the major structural differences of the kidney?
The kidney has outer cortex and an inner medulla. Urine leaving the nephrons —> renal pelvis —> ureter —> bladder
Where May kidney stones cause pain/obstruction?
Kidney stones may cause pain by obstruction at the
-junction of renal pelvis and ureter
- At the site where the ureter passes over the pelvic brim
- At the junction between the ureter and bladder
Contrast: cortex vs medulla osmolarity difference
- Osmolarity of cortex= plasma, but the osmolarity of the inner medulla is increased several fold
- The osmotic gradient is used to recover all of the water that is filtered from the vasculature each day (average urinary water excretion is 1-2 L/d)
What are the functions of kidneys?
Endocrine-
Production of hormones
Erythropoietin-stimulates bone marrow for the production of red blood cells
Renin- converts angiotensinogen to angiotensin I
Hydroxylase 25-OH to 1,25-OH vitamin D
Homeostasis
-regulation of extracellular fluid volume and blood pressure
- Regulation of osmolarity
- Maintenance of ion balance
- Homeostatic regulation of pH
- Excretion of wastes
Note: the cysts form within the nephron and progressively enlarge and compress the surrounding tissues, preventing fluid flow through tubules
What are the types of nephrons and tubular segments?
Two types of nephron: (85%) cortical and Juxtaglomerular (15%) nephron
Nephron structures in the
- Cortex—> consists of oroximal and distal convuluted tubules as well as the initial segments of the collecting duct
- Medulla—> consists of the long loops of Henle and the terminal regions of the collecting duct
Juxtamedullary nephrons are important for urine concentration
What is a nephron?
The functional unit of the kidney consisting glomerulus and renal tubule
What is the glomerulus?
A capillary network and is surrounded by Bowman’s capsule (or Bowman’s space), which is continuous with the first tubule of the nephron
What are the renal tubules comprised of?
- PCT
- Loop of Henle (proximal straight tubule, thin descending limb, thick ascending & distal straight tubule)
- Distal convuluted tubule
Outline the blood supply to the kidney
Renal artery—> segmental artery—> interlobar artery—> arcuate artery—> interlobular artery- -> afferent arteriole—> glomerulus—> efferent arteriole—> peritubular capillaries—> interlobular vein—> arcuate vein —> interlobular vein—> segmental vein —>. Renal vein
Outline blood supply of the glomerulus
Afferent arteriole—>Glomerular capillaries (filtration here although not all blood filtered at each pass)—> efferent arteriole—> peritubular capillaries (wraps around both the proximal and distal tubules
Describe blood supply of proteins the nephron
Cortical nephrons are surrounded by peritubular capillary network and the interstitium is close to an isotonic environment
Vasta recta—> specialized peritubular capillaries close to juxtamedullary nephrons ONLY
Low blood flow in the renal medulla preserve the medullary hypertonicity necessary for the concentration of urine but causes it to be susceptible to ischemia in the setting of hypotension or renal vasoconstriction
The slow flow also keeps the pO2 of the medulla lower than that in the cortex. A sustained decrease in renal perfusion may result in acute renal failure (ARF)
What do macula densa cells do?
Sense distal Tubule flow and release paracrines that affect afferent arteriole diameter
Summarize the anatomy of the glomerulus
Renal corpuscle —> Glomerulus and the Bowman’s capsule
Juxtaglomerular apparatus
- macula densa cells: specialized chemoreceptors cells in the walls of the distal convoluted tubule, which respond to changes in solute concentration (especially Na)
- Juxtaglomerular cells may modified smooth muscle cells located in the walls of the afferent arteriole
- Mesangial cells
What are the elements of Glomerular filtration barrier?
Ultrafiltration of blood across the Glomerular capillaries into Bowman’s space is the first step in urine formation
- Endothelial fenestration of the Glomerular capillaries-Numerous > 70-90 (Nm or A)
- Glomerular basement membrane
- Fused basal lamina of the endothelial cells and podocytes
- Heparan sulphate repels negatively charged molecules
- Podocytes layer (visceral layer of the Bowman’s capsule)
- Modified epithelial called podocytes, highly reminded. Primary processes—> secondary processes—> tertiary processes processes (pedicels)
- filtration slits between pedicels (about 40 nm or A)
- Modified epithelial called podocytes, highly reminded. Primary processes—> secondary processes—> tertiary processes processes (pedicels)
What are the main properties of the Glomerular filtration barrier?
-Filterability of solutes is inversely related to their size
A filterability of 1 means the substance is filtered as freely as water, whereas filterability of 0.75 means the substance is filtered only 75% as rapidly as water
-As molecular weight of the molecule approaches that of albumin, the filterability approaches zero