Lecture: Urinary System Flashcards
What is the function of the kidneys?
homeostasis: maintain proper blood volume and concentration
What are the 5 processes of the kidneys?
1) filter blood plasma
2) regulate BP, blood volume, and osmotic concentration
3) secrete renin
4) secretes erythropoietin
5) synthesize calcitrol
Define: waste.
any substance that is useless to the body or present in excess of the body’s needs
Define: metabolic waste. What are the most toxic metabolic wastes? Name 3 examples.
waste substance produced by the body; nitrogenous waste; -urea -uric acid -creatine
Define: excretion. What 4 systems is this process carried out by?
process of separating wastes from the bodily fluids and eliminating them from the body;
1) respiratory
2) integumentary
3) digestive
4) urinary
What are the principal parts of a nephron?
renal corpuscle: filters blood plasma
-glomerulus: ball of capillaries
-glomerular capsule: sphere that encloses the glomerulus;
renal tubule: duct that leads away from the glomerular capsule and ends at the tip of a medullary pyramid
-proximal convoluted tubule (PCT):
-nephron loop
-distal convoluted tubule (DCT)
-collecting duct: receives fluid from many nephrons
Differentiate between the 2 types of nephrons.
cortical: just beneath the renal capsule, close to the kidney surface
juxtamedullary: close to the medulla
Give a brief overview of the 4 steps of urine formation.
1) glomerular filtration: creates a plasmalike filtrate of the blood
2) tubular reabsorption: returning water and solutes to blood
3) tubular secretion: addition of substances to filtrate
4) water conservation: conserving water & concentrating urine
From where to where do water and some solutes in the blood plasma travel during glomerular filtration? What kind of process is this? What is it caused by?
capillaries of the glomerulus into the capsular space of the nephron;
passive and nonselective process;
caused by hydrostatic pressure
Describe the 3 barriers that constitute a filtration membrane.
1) fenestrated endothelium of the capillary
2) basement membrane: contains a negatively charged proteoglycan gel that repels certain small molecules
3) filtration slits: podocytes of the glomerular capsule have arms with numerous little extensions called foot processes which wrap around capillaries and repel large anions via their negative charges
Name 6 materials which can permeate the filtration membrane.
1) water
2) electrolytes
3) glucose
4) amino acids
5) nitrogenous wastes
6) vitamins
Name 5 materials which cannot permeate the filtration membrane.
1) calcium
2) iron
3) fatty acids
4) thyroid hormones
5) proteins
What are the 4 filtration pressures which govern glomerular filtration?
1) glomerular hydrostatic pressure
- significantly higher (60 mmHg) than other capillaries (15 mmHg)
- caused by large afferent arteriole diameter compared to small efferent arteriole diameter
2) capsular hydrostatic pressure
3) glomerular colloid osmotic pressure (COP)
- caused by proteins, etc. within blood
4) capsular COP
- is essentially 0 mmHg, unless kidney disease allows protein to filter into the capsular space
Define: glomerular filtration rate.
amount of filtrate formed per minute by both kidneys combined;
males: 125 mL/min (180 L/day);
females: 105 mL/min (151 L/day);
daily values are ~50-60 times more than total blood plasma volume;
only 1-2 L/day of urine output
What happens if the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is too high?
- fluid flows too rapidly
- urine output rises
- dehydration
- electrolyte depletion
What happens if the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is too low?
- fluid flows too slowly
- reabsorb wastes
Name the 3 homeostatic mechanisms which change glomerular BP from moment to moment in order to adjust GFR.
1) renal autoregulation
- kidneys alter GFR rate despite high arterial BP
2) sympathetic control
- SNS
3) renin-angiotensin mechanism
Define renal autoregulation and name its two mechanisms.
ability of nephrons to adjust their own blood flow and GFR without external (nervous or hormonal) control;
1) myogenic mechanism
2) tubuloglomerular feedback
Explain the myogenic mechanism of renal autoregulation.
- response to pressure change in renal blood vessels
- smooth muscle of afferent arteriole contracts when stretched due to high BP & relaxes when BP falls
- BP increase»_space;> stretches AA»_space;> AA constricts»_space;> decreases blood flow
Explain the tubuloglomerular feedback mechanism of renal autoregulation.
glomerulus receives feedback on the status of the downstream tubular fluid and adjusts filtration accordingly; juxtaglomerular apparatus (JGA): at end of nephron loop -macula densa cells: --sense flow or fluid composition --secrete messenger to stimulate JGC -juxtaglomerular (JG) cells --constrict or dilate afferent arteriole --secrete renin -mesangial cells --chemo-mechanoreceptor --communication between MD and JGC
Explain SNS control of glomerular BP.
sympathetic NS & adrenal epinephrine constrict afferent arterioles;
strenuous exercise or circulatory shock:
-shunts blood away from the kidneys
-indirectly triggers renin-angiotensin mechanism, stimulating the macula densa cells
-SNS directly stimulates JG cells to release renin
Explain the renin-angiotensin mechanism.
stabilizes systemic BP and ECF volume;
triggered when JG cells release renin;
angiotensin I is converted to angiotensin II by angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE);
angiotensin II vasoconstricts:
-increases MAP
-constricts AA and EA
-stimulates aldosterone: causes renal tubules to reclaim more Na+ ions from filtrate, water follows, increasing BV
-stimulates ADH: promotes water reabsorption by collecting duct
Explain how reabsorption and secretion maintain homeostasis.
reabsorption:
- reclaims materials from nephron to blood via peritubular capillaries
secretion: removes materials form blood to nephron via peritubular capillaries
Name the 2 routes of reabsorption.
transcellular route, through cytoplasm;
paracellular route, move between cells
Name the 2 routes of reabsorption.
transcellular route, through cytoplasm;
paracellular route, move in between cells
Describe the 3 methods of reabsorption.
1) primary active transport
- ex. Na+ - K+ pump, a type of antiport
2) secondary active transport
- driven indirectly by passive ion gradients
- ex. SGLT, a type of symport
3) solvent drag
- solutes follow solvent
- gradients must be present
Differentiate symports and antiports.
symports are transport proteins that move two solutes across a membrane in the same direction;
antiports are transport proteins that exchange two solutes across a membrane in opposite directions