Renal Flashcards
Basic renal functions?
- Maintain water balance
- regulate the quantity and concentration of ECF ions
- maintian plasma volume
- A/B balance
- excrete waste product
- secretion of renin, erythropoiertin etc
WHat is special about renal vasculature?
one way in , one way out, no collateral circulation
kidney vulnerable to change in flow
What are the different cell types found in the glomerulus?
- Endothelial cells- keep things out by size
- mesangial cell- keep things out based on charge
- podocyte- keep things out on size
What is the glomerular basement membrane like?
- very thick, continuous
- podocytes sit on top of GBM
- Endothelial cells on side next to capillary bed
What should a normal glomerulus have on histology?
- Always should b espace outside of bowman’s capsule
- always white, always open
- should always see open space inside capillary itself, inside the bowman’s space
- “darker pink” = glomerular basement membrane
Normal histology of cortex?
- the glomerulus is a tuft of capillaries within a space called the urinary space or bowman’s space
- glomerulus has been cut through the vascular pole which is seen at 6 oclock
- proximal/distal tubule- in all difference direction

Normal histology of medulla
- Medulla made up primarily of loop of henle and collecting ducts
- much more homogenous appearance than cortex

What is normal GFR?
100-125 mL/min
indication of health of kidney= filtration rate
Equation how to find GFR (don’t need to to math, but know what influences for disease state)
- GFR= Kf ( HPc- Πc- HPbs)
- HPc- favors filtration
- Πc, HPbs opposes filtration
What are the determinants of GFR?
- Under normal physiolgic cirucmstances: GFR 100-125 mL/min
- GFR declines with age and in pathology
- Dependent on oncotic pressure, hydrostatic pressure and Kf
- major determinant of GFR is glomerular capillary pressure= blood pressure
Autoregulation of kidneys?
- Purpose: to maintain constant blood flow through the glomerulus independent of systemic BP
- myogenic mechanism
- tubulo-glomerular feedback (juxtaglomerular apparatus)
Review of tubuloglomerular feedback?
- Macula densa- sense increase NaCl in distal nephron inhibits renin release; decreased load promotes renin release
- goes to juxtaglomerular cells to release renin into afferent arteriole
How does the RAAS system affter blood volume?
- Renin–> ang I–> ang II
- Angiotensin II:
- increase blood bolume to increase BP
- Increase in total peripherla resistance (vasoconstriction)–> increase BP (causes hydrostatic pressure to increase and chloride flow to increase in macula densa)
- Angiotensin II:
Facts about kidney pathology?
- About 1 in 12 people in USA has renal or urinary tract disease.
- 13% of all women ages 20 to 45 will experience a UTI
- 26 million adults >20 years of age have chronic kidney disease.
- 45% of kidney failure is caused by diabetes. High blood pressure is the second leading cause of renal failure.
- Over 87,000 people with kidney failure die each year.
- Kidney disease is America’s ninth leading cause of death.
- there are 367,000 people being kept alive through dialysis
- Over 85,000 patients are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. Sadly, only 15,000 will get a new kidney this year.
Why have incidence rates of ESRD increased so much?
increased HTN and DM rates
Geographic variaton in ESRD?
- largely related to race
- also, access to healthcare, poor diet etc
- Highest rate in black, native american
Incident counts of ESRD, tranplant and dialysis

Mortality rates by modality? HD, PD, tranplant?
transplant has best outcomes by far

What is acute renal failure?
- sudden decrease in GFR (within 1-2 days)
- results in increase in plasma concentraiton of waste products (axotemia) normlaly excreted by kidneys
- causes of ARF are varied and yet treatment depends on identifying the mechanism involved
- ARF almost always evolves in hospital
- 1%-25% of crtiically ill patients
- mortaility in these populations ranges form 28-90%
- other things happening in body to cause ARF
- Characterized by:
- reduced produciton urine, clinically recognized as oliguria or anuria
- retention of water, H, minerlas reuslting in metabolic acidosis
- retention of metabolic waste products in blood, most notably BUN and Cr
What 3 different categories is ARF dividided into?
- Prerenal (decreased renal perfusion)
- post renal (obstruction to urine flow)
- parenchymal renal disease (within kidney)
Note: NOT muslaly exclusive, all three of them may b epresent at the same time. THerfore, it is important, even if it seems obvious why the renal funciton is falling, to look for evidence of all three
Pathogenesis of prerenal ARF?
- Any process that sharply decreases renal perfusion
- hypotension
- volume depletion (fluid loss, bleeding)
- primary cardiac pump failure
- decreased SVR (Sepsis)
- response to renal hypoperfusion
- decrease in GFR–> increase in ang II, increase ADH, increase aldosterone
- Na and water retnetion- bad because already not filtering much urine. build up toxins
- increase in BUN/Cr levels (20/1 is normal)
- BUN= reabsorb
- Cr= secretion
- both will go up in ARF. however BUN will increase more than Cr (ratio will be >20:1)
- decrease in GFR–> increase in ang II, increase ADH, increase aldosterone
- Pre-renal failure is best treated by imporving renal perfusion: volume replacement, dialysis
- all compensatory mechanisms are just going to make prerenal ARF worse

Common causes of intrarenal (parenchymal) ARF?
- ATN- acute tubular necrosis
- cortical necrosis
- acute glomerulonephritis
- malignant HTN
- disseminated intravascular coagulation
- renal vasculitis
- allograft rejection
- drug allergy
- infection
- tumor
most are reversible
What are causes of postrenal ARF?
- Tubular obstruciton
- insult (ischemia) cuases sloughing of cells and cast formation. obstruction in the tubule then cauess a retrograde increase in pressure and reduced the GFR
- Tubular backleak
- backward flow of filtrate
- causes: ie prostate, UTI, tumor, kidney stone
















