Urinary System Flashcards
General functions of the kidney are:
Fluid balance, electrolyte balance, acid-base balance, blood pressure regulation via renin-angiotensin aldo system, endocrine organ via release of renin and erythropoeitin, and vitamin D activation by stimulating absorption of vitamin D by the small intestine
Renal Lobe
Basic subunit of the kidney, may fuse together differently depending on the species
The cortex is what layer of the lobe?
Outer
The renal pyramid of the kidney is also known as the?
Medulla
What are the two components of the renal pyramid (medulla)?
The base (towards the cortex) and the papilla (apex).
The term papilla in context to the renal lobe refers to?
The apex of the renal pyramid (medulla).
What are renal columns?
Cortical tissue located along the sides of the pyramids.
What is unique about pig kidneys?
Papillae are present in the kidneys of pigs. This is because cortical portions fuse, but medullary portions do NOT fuse so pyramids are still visible.
What is unique about the kidney of the dog, cat, horse, and small ruminants?
The papillae fuse to form the renal crest.
What is the area of cribrosa?
They are located on the surface of the renal crest and are the openings of papillary ducts on the renal crest.
Unilobar kidneys are also called?
Unipyramidal kidneys
What are unilobar kidneys?
They consist of many lobes where the papillae of the pyramids have fused together to form a singel renal crest.
What species have unilobar kidneys?
Domestic species like the dog and cat, the sheep and horse.
Multilobar kidneys are also called:
Multipyramidal kidneys
What species have multilobar kidneys?
The pig
What are multibobar kidneys?
They have visible, individual papillae because there was little to no fusion of the papillae on the medullary pyramids.
The fibrous capsule of the kidney contains:
An outer layer consisting of dense, irregular collagenous connective tissue and an inner layer consisting of smooth muscle except the cat.
Which species does not contain smooth muscle in the inner layer of the fibrous capsule?
The cat
Define the different between the parenchyma and the stroma of glandular organs like the kidney.
The parenchyma is the epithelial component while the stroma is the connective tissue, supportive component.
The parenchyma of the kidney is composed of:
uriniferous tubules
What structures make up the uriniferous tubules?
The nephron and the collecting duct.
Why is the collecting duct considered a separate structure from the nephron?
While the two structures appear to be continous, they are derived from two different sources during embryonic development and connect later on in development.
What two structures does the cortex contain?
The medullary rays and the cortical labyrinth.
What is located in the cortical labyrinth and where is it located?
The cortical labyrinth is part of the cortex of the lobule and consists of convoluted tubules.
List the 6 segments of the nephron:
Glomerular capsule, proximal convoluted tubule, proximal straight tubule, thin tubule, distal straight tubule, and distal convoluted tubule.
Proximal straight tubule is also known as:
Descending thick limb of the Loop of Henle
Distal straight tubule is also known as:
Ascending limb of the loop of Henle
What segments of the nephrone make up the loop of Henle?
Proximal straight tubule, thin tubule, and distal straight tubule
Where is glomerular (bowman’s) capsule located?
In the cortical laybyrinth between the medullary rays of the cortex.
What two layers make up the glomerular capsule?
Parietal layer and the visceral layer
What is the visceral layer of the glomerular capsule composed of?
Podocytes (simple squamous epithelial cells) that have primary processes and secondary processes called pedicels.
What are pedicels?
Secondary processes of the podocytes of the glomerular capsule that contain filtration slits, which are the space in between the interdigitating pedicels.
What is the renal corpuscle?
It consists of the glomerulus and the glomerular capsule.
What is the vascular pole of the renal corpuscle?
Where afferent and efferent arterioles leave.
What is the tubular (urinary) pole of the renal corpuscle?
where the proximal convoluted tubule begins.
Where is the lumen (urinary space) of the renal corpuscle located?
It is the space in the renal corpuscle between parietal and visceral layers of the glomerular capsule.
List the three components of the filtration barrier between the lumen of the capillary and the tubule in the kidney:
- Fenestrated endothelium of the vessel (porous, no diaphragm, allows everything to go through besides cells)
- Basement membrane (very thick)
- Filtration slit membrane (space between pedicils - continous monoloayer membrane)
What are mesangial cells and where are they located?
The are located between the glomerular capillaries and have contractile elements to help regulate the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). They are also phagocytic and help filter from getting clogged by phagocytosing old cells that cannot get through the fenestrated endothelium.
What is the proximal convoluted tubule (PCT)?
It is the longest segment of the nephron that is located only in the cortex (cortical labyrinth). Its function is to absorb 100% of the glucose, amino acids and proteins that pass through, and ~85% of ions in the tubule fluid that are followed by water.
Describe the course of the loop of Henle:
It starts in the cortex as the proximal straight tubule and runs to the medulla to become the thin tubule which bends and forms the loop. Then the tubule runs back up to the cortex and the thin tubule transitions back to the distal straight tubule.