Renal Flashcards
What is the most obvious function of the kidney?
handle the key elements found in plasma:
- Blood volume and pressure (water concentration, inorganic ion composition)
- acid/base balance
What are the different body fluid compartments? (3)
- plasma: non cellular part of blood, fluid inside blood vessels
- extracellular fluid (ECF): fluid outside the cell - plasma+interstitial fluid+cerebrospinal fluid
- intracellular fluid (ICF): fluid inside the cell
What are the ionic compositions of the body fluid compartments?
Extracellular: high in Na+, Cl-, bicarbonate and phosphate
Intracellular: high in K+, Mg2+, phosphate and protein
Explain what diffusion and osmosis is
diffusion: process in which movement of molecules from one location to another occur as a result of their random thermal motion
osmosis: net diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane from high water concentration → lower water concentration
What is osmotic pressure?
pressure necessary to prevent solvent movement
What is tonicity?
- determined by concentration of non-penetrating solutes of a solution relative to the inside of a cell
- solute concentrations may influence changes in cell volume
- isotonic (same conc), hypertonic (higher out) and hypotonic (higher in) solutions
- water flows from lower osmolarity to higher osmolarity
normal osmolarity inside a cell is about
300 mOsm/L
What factors determine water movement accross blood vessels?
factors moving water out of capillaries:
1. capillary hydrostatic pressure (Pc)
2. osmotic force due to interstitial fluid protein concentration (πIF)
factors drawing water into capillaries
3. interstitial fluid hydrostatic pressure (PIF)
4. osmotic force due to plasma protein concentration (πc)
- more filtration occcurs at the arterial end of capillaries due to high Pc (net + filtration pressure)
- more absorption occurs at the venous end of capillaries due to loss of Pc along the blood vessel - πc draws fluid into the vessel (net negative filtration pressure)
filtration: move of solute/water out of plasma
absorption: move of solute/water into plasma
What is homeostasis? Why is it important to maintain the fluid volume inside the body within a given range?
homeostasis: total body balance of any substance
- there is a fixed volume of water and inorganic ion composition in our body
- water + ions are gained through ingestion or produced by metabolism → must be lost through excretion or metabolized
explain the general anatomy of the kidney
- retroperitoneal (towards the back)
- covered with a capsule-like structure
- 2 regions: outer cortex & inner medulla
- nephron: where urine is made, functional unit
micturition: process of releasing urine outside the body
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what are the associated organs of the urinary system
- ureter: drain the formed urine from the kidneys and empty into the bladder
- bladder: storage organ or a sac for the formed urine - recieves innervation from ANS
- urethra: where urine empties out of the body
What is the structural unit of the kidney? How many types of nephrons are found in the kidney?
Nephron: where urine is made
- parts of nephrons form parts of the cortex and medulla
- fuse with other nephrons to form collecting ducts which empty their contents into the renal pelvis
- 1 million nephrons in the kidney
What are the different parts of the nephron and what are their functions?
renal corpuscle:
- glomerulus (capillary tufts/loops) sit in a cup-like structure called bowman’s capsule, together called the renal corpuscle
- bowman’s capsule leads into the renal tubule
renal tubule:
- proximal convoluted tubule: twisted, close to corpuscle
- loop of henle: hairpin that bends, descnding limb ↓ and ascending limb ↑ (ascending has a thicker and thinner segment)
- distal convoluted tubule: far from corpuscle, drains contents into a collecting duct
- collecting duct: where a number of nephron renal tubules drain their contents, empties into renal pelvis of the kidney
What is the filtering unit of the nephron? What are the specific ultra structural features that make up the filtering unit?
renal corpuscle (glomerular capillaries and bowman’s capsule):
- podocytes are cells that surround the glomerulus: foot processes of one podocyte interlock with those of another - magnifying the surface area for filtration. in b/w interlocking foot processes are filtration slits
- bowman’s space is in b/w podocytes and epi cells: filtrate enters into bowmans space once the blood has been filtered
- flat epithelial cells make up the outer wall of bowman’s capsule and surround bowman’s space: continues on to form tubules where further processing forms the urine
blood enters corpuscle through an afferent arteriole → goes through several twists and turns of the fenestrated glomerular capillaries before exiting through the efferent arteriole
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What is the functional significance behind the anatomy of the glomerulus?
3 layers:
- endothelial fenestrated to allow for filtration, sits on a basement membrane
- basement membrane: gel-like mesh structure composed of collagen and glycoproteins
- podocytes: found outside the basement membrane, fluid moves through filtration slits that are covered with fine semiporous membranes (made of nephrins & podocins), has many foot processes to increase surface area of filtration
3 stages of renal corpuscle development
- nephrons develop as blind-ended tubules made of a single epithelial layer
- growing tuft of capillaries penetrate the expanded end of tubules - basal lamina trapped b/w endo cells of capillaries and epi. layer - epi. layer differentiates: parietal (outer) and visceral (inner) layers
- Parietal layer flattens to become wall of bowman’s capsule, visceral layer becomes podocytes
What are the different capillaries that remain associated with nephrons?
- Glomerular: recieves blood coming from the afferent arteriole, surrounds glomerulus
- Peritubular: capillaries formed by branches of the efferent arteriole surrounding the proximal convoluted tubule
- Vasa recta: found mostly associated with juxtamedullary nephrons in the medullary portion of the kidney (loop of henle)
blood enters into the glomerular capillary and exits the glomerulus through the efferent arteriole
3 basic renal processes involved in urine formation
- Glomerular filtration: blood is filtered across the capillaries of the glomerulus and into bowman’s space
- Tubular secretion: movement of non-filtered, unwanted substances from the capillaries into the tubular lumen
- Tubular reabsorption: the movement of a substance from inside the tubule into the blood (eg glucose)
amount excreted = amount filtered + amount secreted -amount reabsorbed
2 types of nephrons
- cortical 85%: basic functions, closer to cortex
- juxtamedullary 15%: basic functions, regulate concentration of urine, closer to medulla
basic functions: filtration, reabsorption, secretion
What is filtered through the glomerulus? Ultrafiltrate? Proteinuria?
- filtered substances: water, electrolytes, glucose, waste products etc..
- unfiltered substances: plasma proteins and blood cells, large anions (pores have - charges and do not allow - proteins to pass)
- Ultrafiltrate: the cell-free fluid that comes into bowman’s space, contains mostly all substances (except for proteins) at the same concentrations as in the plasma
- Proteinuria: proteins being filtered and showing up in the urine
Forces involved in the filtration of the plasma through the filtering unit
net GF pressure is always positive favouring filtration
forces favouring filtration:
- glomerular capillary blood pressure (Pgc)
forces opposing filtration:
- fluid pressure in bowman’s space (Pbs)
- osmotic force due to protein in plasma (πgc)
net GF filtration pressure = Pgc - Pbs - πgc
Composition of the filtrate
water, electrolytes, glucose, waste products.. mostly everything aside from blood cells, plasma proteins and large anions
What is filtration fraction? Is it different from renal fraction?
20% of plasma get’s filtered, 80% goes back into the main circulation
- 19% of filtrate is reabsorbed and enters the peritubular capillaries
- renal fraction: less than 1% of the volume filtered is excreted to the external environment
What is GFR?
volume of fluid filtered into bowman’s space per unit time
What are factors that can influence GFR? (4)
- net glomerular filtration pressure
- neural and endocrine control
- permeability of the corpuscular membrane
- surface area available for filtration
What is autoregulation of GFR? How is it achieved?
how the body keeps GFR fairly constant despite large changes in arterial pressure or renal blood flow
alteration of arteriolar resistance (AR):
- restriction of AA and dialation of EA = ↓GFR
- dialation of AA and restriction of EA = ↑GFR
mechanisms which change AR:
- myogenic response: arteriole smooth muscle contracts/relaxes in response to BP changes
- hormones/neurotransmitters from ANS
- tubular glomerular feedback: alters autoregulatory processes in response to volume that is flowing through - affects GFR
AA - afferent arteriole
EA - efferent arteriole
BP - blood pressure
Juxtaglomerular apparatus
specialized structure formed by distal convoluted tubule and the glomerular afferent arteriole, next to the glomerulus
cell types of JGA:
- macula densa: beginning of distal tubule
- juxtaglomerular/granular cells: sits on top of afferent arteriole
- mesangial cells: not considered part of JGA; found in triangular region between AA and EA
How is JGA involved in controlling GFR?
macula densa:
- senses increased Na+ load and flow of fluid through the tubule
- paracrine effects: secretes vasoactive compounds (adenosine) which have an effect on arteriolar resistance, signals to JG cells
juxtaglomerular/granular cells:
- innervated by sympathetic nerve fibers which can change AA resistance
- release renin which controls AA resistance
mesangial cells:
- contract and allow podocytes to contract; shirnks the surface area of the GF surface
- GFR affected by a decrease in filtration surface area