kidney function Flashcards
what is excretion?
the elimination of harmful and unwanted products of metabolism
what is osmoregulation?
the maintenance of optimal levels of substances such as salt and water, keeps organism’s fluids from becoming too diluted or concentrated
what is a nephron?
small parts of the kidney involved in the filtration of the blood
what are nephron’s mainly responsible for?
the production of urine in order to get rid of excess water and toxic waste products
which components of a nephron are responsible for filtration?
the renal artery, glomerulus and bowman’s capsule
what does the renal artery do?
brings blood containing small particles to kidney
what does the glomerulus do?
filters blood based on particle size to extract glomerular filtrate (filtered blood)
what does the bowman’s capsule do?
collects glomerular filtrate (filtered blood)
which parts of the nephron are involved in reabsorption?
the proximinal tubule, loop of Henle and distal tubule
what does the proximinal tubule do?
nutrients, sodium chloride are reabsorbed into the blood
what does the loop of henle do?
when glomerular filtrate descends, water is reabsorbed, when glomerular filtrate ascends, sodium chloride is reabsorbed
what does the distal tubule do?
empties fluid into the collecting duct, which exits as urine
regarding a nephron, what are renal veins?
capillaries which surround the nephron, carried blood cleaned by the nephron back to the body’s circulation
is there re-absorption within a nephron?
yes, substances can move out of the tubules, across surrounding interstitial fluid and into the blood of the capillaries
