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The Urinary System

Metabolism involves waste


e.g. CO2 (out
through the lungs)
e.g. nitrogen from
protein metabolism
Converted to
ammonia and
eventually urea

The system
Filter almost
everything from
blood to tubules
Reabsorb what we
need back to blood

Get rid of the waste


via the tubules

The Urinary System


Anatomy of the kidney
Filtration:
mechanism and
regulation
Reabsorption at the
cellular level
How we retain water and
sodium
ADH and aldosterone in
regulation
Secretion

~2 M nephrons in a human
body

1) Filtration
Movement of material
into the capsule to
form a filtrate

2) Reabsorption

Solutes and water are


reabsorbed into the
interstitial fluid and
from there, into the
3)
Secretion
blood
Solutes are secreted
from the blood into the
filtrate

Silverthorn

The filtration membrane acts as


a mechanical filter (no active
transport)
Blood pressure in the
glomerulus is high
- Afferent arterioles
have ___________than
efferent arterioles

Physiology of
- Blood pressurefiltration
in the
glomerulus is high
- The filtration
membrane is
permeable
- 2highly
M nephrons
= huge
surface area (larger than
the skin!)

_____________________(GFR)
180 L/day (glomerular beds)
4 L/day (rest of the beds

Regulation of Glomerular
Filtration
Intrinsic
- Renal autoregulation

Extrinsic
- Neural controls
- Hormonal mechanism

Auto-regulation (just 1 example)


Myogenic stretch receptors in the
afferent arteriole respond to
changes
in
pressure
- Can keep a stable GFR in
systemic blood pressure of 90180 mm Hg
- e.g. decreased systemic
BP would lead to
__________ of the
afferent arteriole
- ________ diameter of afferent =
________ resistance = ________
local pressure gradients =

Extrinsic regulation (just 1 example)


What happens when the systemic BP is
too low (<90mmHg)?
Goal: to regulate systemic BP
- Norepinephrine and
epinephrin are released by the
sympathetic nervous system
and the adrenal medulla
- Afferent arterioles _______ and
filtration is _______ - adequate
systemic BP to sustain blood
flow to heart and brain

1) Filtration
Movement of material
into the capsule to
form a filtrate

2) Reabsorption

Solutes and water are


reabsorbed into the
interstitial fluid and
from there, into the
3)
Secretion
blood
Solutes are secreted
from the blood into the
filtrate

Silverthorn

Most reabsorption takes place in

Transported substances need


to cross through
apical and basolateral
membranes of tubule cells
Endothelium of peritubular
capillaries

The key player: Sodium


Primary Active Transport
Tubular
lumen

Interstitial
fluid

Sodium reabsorption:
primary active transport
Sodium reabsorption is almost
always by active transport
Na+ enters the tubule cells at the
apical membrane
Is actively transported out of the
tubules by a
Na+-K+ ATPase pump

Glucose, amino acids and many


other nutrients co-transport with
sodium

Other
solutes
follow
sodium in
moving into
the PCT cells
and toward
the
interstitial
fluid

Other
solutes
and water
follow
sodium in
moving into
the PCT cells
and toward
the
interstitial
fluid

What will happen if we have


excess amount of glucose?

Pfennig, David W <dpfennig@unc.edu>

- All organic compounds (e.g. amino


acids, glucose) have been reclaimed
by now
- ~65% of water and NaCl have been
absorbed
in
the
PCT
Thats great, but not enough

How to concentrate the filtrate to 1%


in the excreted urine?

_______________of the
___________nephrons

Nephron: the functional unit of the


kidney
Nephrons
Cortex

Cortex
Medull
a

Medull
a

Comparative anatomy teaches us


about the importance of the Henle
loops

Osmolality
- The number of solute particles
dissolved in 1Kg of water

Body fluids are measured in


milliosmols (mOsm)
The osmolality of body fluids =
the osmolality of blood plasma =
300 mOsm

Permeable to
H2O and
solutes

A medullary
gradient of
osmolality exists
in the interstitial
fluid
The deeper we go
into the medulla,
the greater the
osmolality in the
interstitial fluid

Lets start the journey


Imagine you are now swimming in
the filtrate while measuring
osmolality

As the filtrate runs


down the
descending limb, it
faces greater
osmolality in the
Possible solutions:
interstitial
1. Absorbingfluid
solutes
from the interstitial
fluid and into the
tubule
2. Releasing water
into the interstitial
fluid (osmosis)

Permeable to
H2O and
solutes

Lets remind ourselves


that the capillaries of
the vasa recta run
along the tubules

The vasa recta


carries the water
from the
interstitial fluid
towards the veins
and back to
circulation
That means that
the osmolality
gradient along the
medulla is
maintained and
not solved

H 20
H 20
H 20
H 20

Back to the filtrate


As the filtrate
progresses down the
descending limb, it
becomes more and
more concentrated

We continue our journey


in the thin ascending limb
The concentrated
filtrate progresses up
the ascending limb.
Now it faces
decreased osmolality
in the interstitial fluid
Solution: NaCl
diffuses out of the
tubule

We continue our journey


in the thick ascending
limb
The osmolality of
the filtrate
gradually
decreases
In the thick
ascending limb, Na+
is actively
transported out of to
the interstitial fluid

During all this


time, the vasa
recta carries the
water and NaCl
from the
interstitial fluid
towards the veins
and back to
Thus, the
circulation
medullary
osmolality
gradient is
maintained

1. H2O diffuses
out of the
descending limb
2. NaCl diffuses and
then actively
transported out of
the ascending limb
During these
attempts to solve
the osmotic
gradient, H2O and
NaCl leave the
filtrate and are

At the end of the loops of Henle


80% of water and 90% of NaCl are
reabsorbed

Formation of Dilute Urine


If we want to excrete some water:
e.g.
when?
Collecting ducts
remain impermeable
to water; no further
water reabsorption
occurs
Urine osmolality can be
as low as 50 mOsm
(one-sixth that of

When do we need to reabsorb more


water?
Low blood volume and increased
osmolality of the extracellular fluid
First approach: increase water input
Osmoreceptor
s in the thirst
center
(where?)
sense
increased

The hypothalamus
promotes reabsorption
of water by releasing
the antidiuretic
hormone (ADH) from
the posterior pituitary

ADH leads to insertion of _________


in the membrane of the DCTs and
collecting ducts

Finally, to promote reabsorption of


NaCl, __________, released from the
adrenal cortex promotes synthesis
of sodium transporters in the DCTs
and collecting ducts
Na

Na
Na

The Urinary System


Anatomy of the kidney
Filtration:
mechanism and
regulation
Reabsorption at the
cellular level
How we retain water and
sodium
ADH and aldosterone in
regulation

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