Overview of Renal Structure and Function Flashcards
Kidney’s job
Homeostasis
How does the kidney maintain total body content at a normal level?
Changing its rate of excretion
Where is sodium found?
**Restricted to ECF!!!!**
Hyperosmotic fluid loss means sodium depletion from:
ECF!! (so ECF would be hypoosmotic)
BP is determined by ____, which is determined by ____.
ECFV Total body Na+ content
What would you expect to see in a pt with no sodium?
Death
What is the major EC osmole? IC osmole?
Na+
K+
Hyperkalemia means excess K+ in which compartment?
EC
(don’t get confused despite K+ being major IC osmole)
Total body water most influenced by:
Osmolality of Na+, which determines majority of total body osmolality
Two major anions in ECF:
Cl- and Bicarb (HCO3-)
___% of body is water in males, ___% in females
60%
50%
Why do males have higher % TBW than females?
Males have more skeletal muscle
(Remember: 43% of TBW goes to muscle and 76% of muscle is water)
Function of HCO3-?
Maintain pH of 7.4
Major ECF buffer
Name three minerals whose levels are maintained by the kidney.
Calcium, phosphorus, magnesium
Name three waste products excreted in the urine and from which process each is produced.
Urea - protein metabolism
Creatinine - muscle metabolism
Uric acid - nucleic acid metabolism
What type of anemia is anemia of chronic kidney disease? What treats it?
Normochromic normocytic
EPO injections
What would you expect to see in a PBS of pt with EPO-secreting tumor?
Reticulocytes
(increased RBC production)
What would you expect to see in a PBS of pt with kidney necrosis?
Low reticulocyte count with a normochromic, normocytic anemia
(Less functioning kidney mass = less EPO = low RBC production = anemia)
Is anemia of chronic kidney disease reversible? How?
Yes, EPO injections
(also probably by reversing the cause of the kidney disease?)
Why might kidney disease cause bone pain, weakness, and cognitive impairment?
Vitamin D deficiency
(lack of active form of vitamin D)
What enzyme converts vitamin D to its active form, called ____?
1-alpha hydroxylase
Calcitriol
Where is renin produced?
Juxtamedullary apparatus by specialized cells in the afferent arteriole
Name four vasodilatory messengers produced by the kidney.
NO, PGI2, PGE2, bradykinin
Name the two renal functions of bradykinin.
Vasodilation and natriuresis