m11 + 12 lecture - urinary system Flashcards
what organ does the urinary system include?
kidneys
- smaller than a fist
- covered in fat
what are the functions of the kidney?
- clean the blood of waste
maintain:
- BP (RAAS)
- O2 concentration in the blood (RBC production)
- pH and electrolyte balance (albumin, K+, Na+, Cl-, Ca++)
what is the nephron?
- functional unit of the kidneys
- responsible for urine formation
- mainly in cortex of kidney, a portion extends into the medullary region (loop of Henle)
what are the steps of urine formation by the nephron?
1) filtration
2) reabsorption
3) excretion/secretion
how many nephrons are in each kidney?
- 1 million per kidney
about how many nephrons are cortical and juxtamedullary ?
cortical nephron - 85%
juxtamedullary nephron - 15%
- long loop
- helps to concentrate urine
what are the parts of the nephron?
- renal corpuscle
- glomerulus (podocytes)
what is the renal corpuscle?
- made from the glomerulus and the bowman’s capsule
- this is the filtration unit of the kidneys
what is the glomerulus?
- a network of very porous fenestrated capillaries, held together by podocytes
- receives blood from the afferent arteriole and is drained by the efferent arteriole (only kind of capillary bed drained by an arteriole)
what is a podocyte?
- helps prevent rupture of the glomerulus
- reinforces the membrane and has filtration slits
what is the JG apparatus made of?
- macula densa cells of DCT
- juxtaglomerular cells (granular cells of afferent arteriole)
what do the juxtaglomerular cells do?
- monitor the BP and O2 content in the afferent arteriole
- release renin to increase BP (RAAS)
- produce EPO to increase RBCs and O2
what do the macula densa cells do?
- tubuloglomerular feedback mechanism (TGFM)
- cells of the DCT which lie close to the glomerulus
- these cells act as chemoreceptors that sense the concentration of the filtrate
- change the flow of blood thru the afferent arteriole and the filtration rate thru the glomerulus
what is filtrate formation?
- driven by hydrostatic pressure (BP)
- kidneys form 180L of filtrate per day
—-> we reabsorb 178.2L = 99%
—-> we only secrete 1.8L = 1% in our urine - filtrate is the same as plasma except without any protein/cells
- anything not reabsorbed = considered urine
equation for net filtration pressure (NFP)?
glomerular filtration pressure –> GFP
(+/-) colloid osmotic pressure –> COP
(+/-) capsular hydrostatic pressure –> CHP
= net filtration pressure –> NFP
why is filtrate formed?
- due to glomerular filtration pressure - this is the same as glomerular hydrostatic pressure
- pressure in the glomerulus is much higher than regular capillaries at 55mmHg (vs. 15mmHg normally)
- this pressure will force fluid and small particles out of the blood into the bowman’s capsule
two factors will oppose this:
- capillary osmotic pressure = around 30 mmHg
- capsular hydrostatic pressure = usually 15 mmHg
what is the glomerular filtration rate (GFR)?
- the rate at which filtrate forms
- 125mL/min
what factors affect filtrate formation?
- BP changes in the afferent arteriole
- hydration
- health of glomerular capillaries
- age
what happens when BP increases?
- filtrate formation increases
- reabsorption decreases
—> urine formation increases and becomes more dilute
—> nephron does not have time to reabsorb the fluid
* if greatly affected by how much water you take in per day*
through what mechanisms is regulation of GFR done?
intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms