Renal physiology Flashcards
What is GFR
Glomerular filtration rate - Rate at which plasma is filtered into filtrate by the glomerulus
What is the gold standard for assessing GFR?
Inulin - Freely filtered, isn’t reabsorbed and isn’t secreted into the renal tubule
What are the disadvantages of inulin?
It isn’t easy to measure and is not endogenous so needs to be infused continually at a constant rate
What is used to measure GFR in practise?
Creatinine - Endogenous (Muscle metabolism), freely filtered and isn’t reabsorbed - Some is secreted, however, into the tubule so isn’t perfect
How is eGFR calculated?
It is calculated using serum creatinine and a series of formulae involving age, sex and ethnicity
What is proteinuria?
Presence of plasma proteins in the urine
How is proteinuria measured?
24-hour urine collection or spot sample of Protein:Creatinine ratio (PCR)
What are the 2 categories of proteinuria pathology?
Overflow proteinuria
Glomerular proteinuria
What is overflow proteinuria?
Proteinuria caused by an excess of protein in the blood
What is glomerular proteinuria?
Proteinuria caused by excessive increase in protein being absorbed by the glomerulus
What is a cause of overflow proteinuria?
Myeloma - Excess of Bence-Jones protein causes proteinuria
What can occur as a result of glomerular proteinuria?
Nephrotic syndrome - Albumin is lost from the glomerulus, increasing water movement into the tubules and into the ECF, causing massive oedema
What is microalbuminuria?
The excretion of albumin in abnormal quantities, but still below the limit of protein detection by dipstick
What are the 3 stages of proteinuria?
Microalbuminuria - -ve dipstick
Clinical proteinuria - Dipstick reading 1-2
Nephrotic syndrome - Dipstick reading ≥3
What is PCR in renal physiology?
Protein:Creatinine ratio
What is ACR?
Albumin:Creatinine ratio
How much blood is filtered per day?
~180L
What is osmolarity?
The concentration of osmotically active particles present in a solution
What are the units for osmolarity?
osmol/L
mosmol/L
What are the 2 factors that must be known to calculate osmolarity?
Molar concentration of the solution
Number of osmotically active particles present
(Multiply to get osmolarity)
Osmolarity of 150mM NaCl?
Molar concentration = 150mM = 150 mmol/L
No. osmotically active particles =2 (Na+ and Cl-)
Osmolarity = 2 x 150 = 300 mosmol/L
Osmolarity of 100mM MgCl2?
Molar concentration = 100mM = 100 mmol/L
No. osmotically active particles = 3 (Mg and 2Cl-)
Osmolarity = 3 x 100 = 300 mosmol/L
What is the difference between osmolarity and osmolality?
Units
Omsolarity - osmol/L
Osmolality - osmol/Kg of water
For weak salt solutions (Including body fluids), these 2 terms are interchangeable
What is the osmolarity of body fluids?
~300 mosmol/L
What is tonicity?
The effect a solution has on cell volume
What is a hypotonic solution?
One which has a lower osmolarity than the cell and so water enters the cell causing it to swell
(Takes into consideration the ability of a solute to cross the cell membrane)
What is an isotonic solution?
One which has the same osmolarity as the cell and so there is no change in cell volume
(Takes into consideration the ability of a solute to cross the cell membrane)
What is a hypertonic solution?
One with a higher osmolarity than the cell, so water leaves the cell causing it to shrink
(Takes into consideration the ability of a solute to cross the cell membrane)
What percentage of male body weight is total body water (TBW)?
~60%
What percentage of female body weight is total body water (TBW)?
~50%
Why is female TBW a lower percentage of body weight than male TBW?
Females have a greater percentage of body fat due to hormone differences, which contains very little water
What are the 2 major compartments of total body water?
Intracellular fluid (~66%)
Extracellular fluid (~33%)
What are some of the components of extracellular fluid?
Interstitial fluid (~80%)
Plasma (~20%)
Lymph (<1%)
Trans-cellular fluid (<1%)
How are body fluid compartments measured?
Using tracers to measure volume of distribution
What tracer is used to measure TBW?
3H2O (Tritiated water)
What tracer is used to measure extracellular fluid?
Inulin
What tracer is used to measure plasma?
Labelled albumin
How can ICF be measured using tracers?
Inulin to measure ECF
3H2O to measure TBW
TBW - ECF = ICF
How is volume of distribution measured?
- Imagine adding a dose of a tracer to a container of unknown volume of water
- Mix the tracers and allow it to equilibrate
- Then take a small sample volume and measure the concentration
- The volume of water in the container can then be calculated
- Volume = Dose ÷ Concentration
How does water imbalance in the body manifest?
Changes in body fluid osmolarity
Less water -> Greater osmolarity
More water -> Lower osmolarity
What are the main water inputs to the body?
Fluid intake
Food intake
Metabolism (Respiration by-product)
What are the 2 types of water output of the body?
Insensible - Losses without physiological regulation
Sensible - Losses with physiological regulation
What are some insensible water outputs?
Loss via skin
Loss via lungs
What are some sensible water outputs?
Loss via sweat
Loss via faeces
Loss via urine
What are some ions that are in higher concentration in the ECF?
Na+
Cl -
HCO3-
What are some ions that are higher in concentration in the ICF?
K+
Mg2+
Negatively charged proteins
What is fluid shift?
The movement of water between the ICF and ECF in response to an osmotic gradient
What would happen if osmotic concentration of the ECF increases (E.g. dehydration - Less water, so higher concentration of ions)
ECF becomes hypertonic to ICF
Water moves from the ICF into the ECF causing cell shrinkage and increase in ECF volume
What would happen if osmotic concentration of the ECF decreases (E.g. Overhydration - More water, so lower concentration of ions)
ECF becomes hypotonic to ICF
Water moves from ECF into ICF causing cell swelling and decrease in ECF volume
What are the 3 main challenges to fluid homeostasis?
- Gain or loss of water
- Gain or loss of NaCl
- Gain or loss of isotonic fluid
What is caused by gain or loss of water?
Changes in fluid osmolarity
What is caused by ECF NaCl gain?
ECF becomes hypertonic to ICF so water moves from ICF to ECF causing ECF water gain and cell shrinkage
What is caused by ECF NaCl loss?
ECF becomes hypotonic to ICF so water moves from ECF to ICF causing ECF water loss and cell swelling
What is caused by gain or loss of isotonic fluid?
No change in osmolarity, but increased plasma volume and therefore arterial blood pressure
What is an electrolyte?
A substance that dissociates into free ions when dissolved
Why is electrolyte balance important in the body?
- Total electrolyte concentrations can affect water balance
- Concentrations of individual electrolytes can affect cell function
What are the 2 most important ions for electrolyte balance and why?
Na+ and K+ are particularly important as they are major contributors to the osmotic concentration and directly affect functioning of all cells
What is the RDA of salt?
6g (Average is around 10.5g)
What is the main ion found in the ECF?
Na+
What is the main ion found in the ICF?
K+
What are some problems that may be caused in changes to K+ concentration?
- Muscle weakness → Paralysis
- Cardiac irregularities → Cardiac arrest
Role of kidneys in maintaining plasma volume and osmolarity?
- Water balance - Excretion of water via urine
- Salt balance - Excrete around 10g salt per day
Role of kidneys in acid-base balance?
Excretion of H+ and reabsorption of H2CO3-
Role of kidneys in waste management
- Excretion of metabolic waste products (E.g. bilirubin)
- Excretion of exogenous foreign compounds (E.g. drug metabolites)
Role of kidneys in blood pressure maintenance?
Secretion of renin - RAAS
Role of kidneys in blood production
Secretion of erythropoietin (EPO) for RBC production
Role of kidneys in vitamin D
Conversion of vitamin D into active form (Calcitriol - Controls Ca2+ absorption in the GI tract)