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Urinary System - Kidney Physiology Lecture
Urinary System - Kidney Physiology Lecture
Physiology
Renal Tubule
Nephron
• Renal corpuscle
– site of plasma filtration
– 2 components
• glomerulus
– tuft of capillary loops
– fed by afferent
arteriole
– drained by efferent
arteriole
•
capillaries
Important vessels
– Afferent arterioles -
each renal corpuscle
receives one
– Glomerular capillaries cortex
--------
– Efferent arterioles - medulla
drain blood from
glomerulus
– Peritubular capillaries
- around cortical nephrons
– Vasa recta - long
networks from the
efferent arteriole around
the Loop (juxtamedullary
nephrons) Vasa
recta
Renal Blood Supply
• Important
vessels
– Interlobular
veins
– Arcuate veins
– Interlobar veins
– Segmental veins
– Renal veins -
exits hilus
Distal
Convoluted
Tubule
Renin-Angiotensin System
• Juxtaglomerular apparatus
(JGA)
– Distal tubule contacts afferent
arteriole at renal corpuscle
– Macula Densa (MD) cells
• special cells in the wall of the distal
tubule in this area monitor the
osmotic potential in the filtrate in JG
the distal tubule af
fe
re
nt
ar
• stimulate JG cells to release renin if t.
modest
Tubular Reabsorption
• Movement of water and certain solutes back
into bloodstream from the renal tubule
– Filter 180 L/day of fluid and solutes
• nutrients (Na+, K+, Glucose, etc.) are needed by body
• body will expend ATP to get them back into blood
– about 99% of the filtrate volume is reabsorbed
from the tubule by active transport and osmosis
• Epithelial cells in PCT (microvilli) increase
surface area for tubular reabsorption
• DCT and collecting ducts play a lesser role in
nutrient/solute reabsorption
Reabsorption of Na+ in PCT
• PCT is site of most
electrolyte
reabsorption
• Mechanisms which aid
Na+ transport
– Na+/ K+ ATPase on
basolateral side is
fundamental
• Concentration of Na+
inside the tubular
cells is low
• Interior of the cell
negatively charged
– Double gradient for
Na+ movement from
filtrate to tubular cell
– Requires ATP energy
Reabsorption of Nutrients in PCT
• ~100% of the filtered glucose and other sugars, AA's, lactic
acid, and other useful metabolites are reabsorbed
• Na+ symporters power secondary active transport systems
• Why secondary? They rely on the Na+/ K+ ATPase pump.
Reabsorption of Na+ in PCT
• Na is passively transported from the filtrate in
+
[H2O]
[solutes]
Reabsorption of Nutrients in PCT
• The new concentration gradients increase the
diffusion of some of the other remaining solutes in
the filtrate from lumen to the blood stream.
Transport Maximums (Tm)’s
• each type of symporter has an upper limit
(maximum) on how fast it can work
• any time a substance is in the filtrate in an
amount greater than its transport maximum,
some of it will be left behind in the urine
• +
only Na +
has no transport maximum because
Na is being actively transported by the
Na+/ K+ ATPase pump at all times.
Renal Thresholds
The Renal Threshold is the plasma
concentration at which a substance begins to
spill into the urine because its Tm has been
surpassed.
If the plasma filtrate concentration is too high,
all of the substance cannot be reabsorbed.
For example, glucose spills into the urine in
untreated diabetics.
Tm for glucose = 375 mg/min
If blood glucose > 400 mg/100 mL, large quantities of
glucose will appear in the urine
Reabsorption in the PCT
• By the end of the PCT the following
reabsorption has occurred:
– 100% of filtered nutrients (sugars, albumin,
amino acids, vitamins, etc.)
– 80-90% of filtered HCO3-
– 65% of Na+ ions and water,
– 50% of Cl- and K+ ions
Reabsorption in Loop of Henle
• Cells in the thin
descending limb are only
permeable to water
• H2O reabsorption is not
coupled to reabsorption
of filtered solutes
(osmosis) in this area as
it had been in the PCT
PCT is the
site for
reabsorption
of all nutrients
and most
electrolytes
Collecting
Ducts complete
electrolyte
reabsorption
Reabsorption in the Nephron
• Note: reabsorption of electrolytes must
maintain an electrostatic equilibrium.
The Net Charge must remain in balance
in each fluid compartment.
• For every cation (e.g., Na +
) which crosses
a membrane in a particular direction, one
of two things must also happen:
– An anion (e.g., Cl-, HCO3-) must cross the
membrane in the same direction, or
– A different cation (e.g., K+) must cross the
membrane in the opposite direction
Reabsorption in the Nephron
• Aldosterone and Atrial Natriuretic
Peptide regulate the rate of tubular
reabsorption of Na+ and Cl- and the
concurrent secretion of K+.
• Parathormone regulates the++ rate of++
tubular reabsorption of Ca and Mg and
the concurrent secretion of HPO4-.
Fluid Reabsorption in the Nephron
• Use GFR (mLs/min) values to track reabsorption of filtrate
PCT reabsorbs
105 mLs/min and
DCT reabsorbs
19 mLs/min
leaving 1 mL/min
as urinary
output. This is
obligatory water
reabsortion.
1440 mLs/day
produced under
these “standard”
conditions.
Tubular Secretion
• Removes substances from the blood, adds
them to the filtrate
– includes H+, K+, NH4+, HPO4-, creatinine, plant
alkaloids (toxins), penicillin and other drugs
• Two primary functions:
– Helps rid body of certain routinely generated
waste substances and toxins
– Regulates blood pH by secretion of H+ (and to a
lesser degree, reabsorption of HCO3-)
Secretion of K+ ions
• Principal cells in collecting ducts secrete variable
amount of K in exchange for reabsorbed Na
+ +
H+
1
HCO3-
Secretion of H+ ions
• In PCT
– [2] CO2 from the filtrate or plasma enters the tubular
cell where it combines with H2O to form H2CO3
H+
HCO3- 2
2
Secretion of H+ ions
• In PCT
– [3] H+ is pumped into the lumen
– [4] H2CO3- follows pumped Na+ back to the bloodstream
HCO3-
H+
4
3
HCO3-
Secretion of H+ ions
• Collecting ducts also
secrete H+ ions
– H+ pumps are a primary
active transport process
powered by ATPs
– generate as much as a 1000
HCO3-
fold concentration gradient
strongly acid urine
H+
– new bicarbonate ions are
reabsorbed by the
basolateral HCO3-/Cl-
antiporter
– adding new HCO3- buffer to
the bloodstream
Secretion of NH3 and NH4+
• Ammonia is a toxic waste absorbed from
bacterial metabolism in the large intestine
and ammonia is generated from the
deamination of amino acids in the liver
• Liver converts ammonia to urea, a much less
toxic nitrogenous waste
• PCT cells can also deaminate certain amino
acids and secrete additional NH4+ with a
Na+/NH4+ antiporter when blood pH becomes
acidic
Summary of
Nephron
Functions
PCT
reabsorbs
nutrients,
electrolytes,
and water
Summary of
Nephron Functions
Loop also
reabsorbs some
electrolytes and
water
Summary
of
Nephron
Functions
DCT and Collecting
Ducts continue the
absorption of water and
electrolyte, especially
Na+ and HCO3-;
PCT reabsorbs
105 mLs/min and
DCT reabsorbs
19 mLs/min ~1 mL/Min
leaving 1 mL/min is adjusted
as urinary as needed
output. by ADH.
That is
1440 mLs/day facultative
produced under water
these “standard” reabsorption.
conditions.
Adjusting Water Balance
• Distal tubular cells and
cells in the collecting
ducts expend ATP energy
to create an osmotic
gradient between the
cortex and medulla of the
kidney
• The key substances
transported are urea and
NaCl
• Countercurrent flow
mechanisms maintain the
osmotic gradient
Countercurrent Flow Mechanisms
• Compare to a system of
co-current flow:
• two pipes are semi-
permeable
• the fluids flow in the
same direction
• solutes will diffuse
along concentration
gradients
• solutes will all reach
equilibrium values
Countercurrent Flow Mechanisms
• In a system of
countercurrent flow:
• two pipes are still
semi-permeable
• but the fluids flow in
opposite directions
• solutes again diffuse
along concentration
gradients
• the gradient always
favors transfer
• solutes do not reach
equilibrium values
Countercurrent Flow Mechanisms
• Countercurrent flow is
seen in a variety of
physiological systems:
• How do penguins stand
in freezing water in
their bare feet?
• blood flows in opposite
directions t
ea
• heat is transferred h
Urethra routed
differently in males
and females
The Final Common Pathway
• Urethra
– small tube from floor of bladder to exterior of body
• females -- fairly straight path exits anterior to vagina
• males -- passes through the prostate gland and exits through
the penis
– histology
• female: three coats
– inner mucosa, intermediate thin layer of spongy tissue with plexus
of veins
– outer muscular coat continuous with the bladder
• male two layers
– inner mucous membrane and a muscularis
– outer submucosa tissue with various accessory structures which
connect to it
• both genders have a stratified squamous epithelial lining
The Final Common Pathway
• Urethra
– Physiology - terminal portion of urinary tract, in
males the urethra also serves as the duct through
which semen is discharged from the body
• Urine
– Volume
• 1000-2000 ml/day
• influenced by blood pressure, blood osmotic pressure,
temperature, mental state, general health, diet,
diuretics, other drugs
– Chemical Composition - 95% water, 5% solutes
Micturition
• Voluntary and involuntary
(ANS) nerve impulses
control the process
1. 700-800 mL capacity
A B 2. when volume > 200-400 mL,
stretch receptors fire
3. processed in cortex
2 a) micturition reflex
b) initiates a conscious desire
to expel urine
4. parasympathetic commands
coordinate the process
1 5. contraction of detrusor
(bladder), relaxation of
3 internal sphincter
The End
Thank you & all the Best