Urinary System Flashcards
What is the renal sinus?
a fat filled cavity of the kidney that encloses the renal artery, vein, and lymph vessels
What type of CT surrounds a kidney?
Dense irr CT
What is the cortical labyrinth?
the regions between the medullary rays
What is the cortical arch?
The cortical tissue overlying the base of a pyramid
What are the medullary rays in kidneys?
Medullary tissue extending from the base of the pyramid into the cortex
What is contained within medullary rays?
Straight tubules and collecting ducts
How many renal pyramids are there per kidney?
8-18
What does the apex of a renal pyramid contain?
ducts of bellini, projecting into the minor calyx
What are the renal columns of Bertin? What part of the kidney are they considered?
The columns of renal tissue that extends between renal pyramids. These are considered a part of the medulla, NOT cortex.
What is the cortical arch?
The cortex above the renal pyramids
What are the three components of each kidney lobe?
Renal pyramid with base cortical tissue and columns of bertin
What is contained within the renal columns of Bertin?
Straight and collecting tubules
What comprises a uriniferous tubule?
Nephron + Collecting Tubule
What is a a renal corpuscle?
Glomerulus and the bowman’s capsule
What is the glomerulus?
A clusted of fenestrated capillaries located in the renal corpuscle
What is Bowman’s capsule?
The proximal end of the nephron
What are the two regions of the renal cortex?
Cortical labyrinth and medullary rays
What is contained within the cortical labyrinth of the cortex? (3)
Renal corpuscles
Convoluted tubules
Collecting tubules
What is contained within the medullary rays?
Straight tubules and collecting ducts
What does a kidney lobe consist of?
Renal pyramid
Cortical arch
Columns of Bertin
What does a kidney lobule contain?
Collecting duct and all nephrons emptying into it
Where does a nephron end?
At the distal convoluted tubule
What is the visceral layer of Bowman’s capsule composed of?
podocytes
What is significant about the podocytes that cover the glomerulus that allows for filtration?
They form a slit like diaphragm
What is the epithelial type that covers the parietal layer of Bowman’s capsule?
Simple squamous with BL
What is Bowman’s space? What does it contain?
the space between the visceral and parietal layers of Bowman’s capsule
contains ultrafiltrate
What comprises the vascular pole of a renal corpuscle?
Sites where Afferent and Efferent glomerular aterioles enter
Where does the urinary pole of a glomerulus lead to?
The proximal urinary tubule
What is the specialization of the arterioles in the renal corpuscle, that allows for transport of fluids out to the urinary (Bowman’s) space?
Fenestrations
What are the 5 components of the filtration barrier of the renal corpuscle?
i) endothelial surface layer of glomerular capillaries
ii) fenestrated endothelium of glomerular capillary
iii) basal lamina (produced by endothelium and podocytes)
iv) subpodocyte space
v) visceral layer of Bowman’s capsule (podocytes)
What are the finger-like processes that extend from podocytes?
Secondary processes (arise from a larger primary processes)
What is the protein that covers the spaces between the secondary processes of podocytes? What is its function?
Nephrin, which forms a diaphragm
What happens if there is a mutation in the nephrin gene?
Congenital nephrotic syndrome (massive proteinuria/edema)
What are mesangial cells?
Phagocytic cells between adjacent capillaries that phagocytoze the BL of capillaries when they become riddled with proteins
What is Alport’s syndrome (hereditary glomerulonephritis)?
Mutation in Collagen IV causing a leaky BM of the glomerular capillaries. Results in hematuria, proteinuria, and progressive renal failure
What type of epithelium coves a proximal convoluted tubule? What specialization do they have?
Simple cuboidal with microvilli
Is the cytoplasm of the cells comprising the proximal convoluted tubule esosinophilic or basophilic?
VERY eosiniphilic d/t mitochondira
True or false: the proximal straight tubule has a similar structure to the proximal convoluted tubule, except that is it straight
True
How can you distinguish between vasa recta and the thin loop of henle?
There will be blood in the vasa recta, and vasa recta have simple squamous epithelium
How can one distinguish between sections of the proximal convoluted tubule from the distal one?
Distal one will have light staining tubules WITHOUT microvillli.
Proximal has dark staining cuboidal cells, WITH microvilli
What is the order of loops of a nephron? (5)
Proximal convoluted Thick descending thin thick ascending Thick distal convoluted tubule
What is the loops of Henle?
The entire U
What is the macula densa?
modified segment of the distal tubule the connects to the glomerulus
Is the collecting tubule part of a nephron? Part of the uriniferous tubule?
It is part of the uriniferous tubule, but not part of the nephron
The DCT empties into what? What does that then drain into?
an arched collecting tubule that drains into a cortical/medullary collecting duct
What type of epithelium do the collecting ducts have?
Simple cuboidal
What are the papillary collecting ducts of Bellini? Epithelium type here?
formed by many collecting tubules.
Simple columnar epithelium
What is the collection of ducts of Bellini that enters into minor calyxes called?
Renal papilla
What type of epithelium cover a renal papilla?
transitional epithelium
true or false: there is smooth muscle at the level of the minor calyx to squeeze urine contents into the major calyx
True
What are juxtaglomerular cells? (where are they found, what do they contain, and what do they function as?)
Cells next to an afferent arteriole near the glomerulus that contain Renin, and function as baroreceptors
What is the function of Renin? What happens after that?
Converts angiotensinogen to angiotension I.
ACE convert to angiotension II
What is the function of angiotension II?
constricts aterioles, and stimulates the secretion of aldosterone
What is the function of the aldersterone that is released by the suprarenal cortex in response to angiotension II?
Stimulates the macula densa cells to take in Na/Cl
What is the blood supply to the glomerulus?
Afferent glomerular arterioles
What type of epithelium lines the ureter? What is beneath this (2)?
Transitional epithelium on a BL and LP
Where does the ureter have a two layered muscularis? Three layered?
Upper 2/3 of ureter
Lower 1/3
What are the three layers of the distal 1/3 of the ureter?
Inner longitudinal
middle circular
outer longitudinal
true or false: Ureters deliver urine to the urinary bladder via peristaltic waves produced by the muscularis and not by gravitational forces
True
What type of epithlium lines the mucosa of the female urethra?
transitional then stratified squamous
What type of epithlium lines the mucosa prostatic urethra?
Transitional
What are the three parts to the urethra in males?
Prostatic
Membranous
Spongy (penile)
What type of epithlium lines the mucosa of the membranous urethra?
stratified columnar epithelium
What type of epithlium lines the mucosa of the spongy urethra?
pseudostratified columnar epithelium
