ESSENTIAL RENAL ANATOMY

AND PHYSIOLOGY

Class: 404
Student: Otgonbat B.
Composition of the Urinary System
Where is kidney located in the human body?

The kidneys are bean-shaped organs (about

12 cm x 7 cm x 3 cm) that are located against
the back muscles in the upper abdominal
area. They sit opposite each other on both the
left and right side of the body; the
right kidney, however, sits a little lower than
the left to accommodate the size of the liver.
The medial surface of the kidney is concave with a hilum carrying renal nerves and blood vessels.
The renal parenchyma is divided into an outer cortex and inner medulla.
Functions of the Kidneys

1) Filter blood plasma, separate wastes, return

useful materials to the blood, and eliminate the
wastes.
2) Regulate blood volume and osmolarity.
3) Produce hormones (Renin, erythropoietin,
calcitrol)
4) Regulate acid-base balance of the body fluids.
5) Detoxify superoxides, free radicals, and drugs.
STRUCTURE OF THE KIDNEY
The specific components of the kidney are the nephrons,
the collecting ducts (CDs), and a unique
microvasculature. The multipapillary kidney of humans
contains approximately 1 million nephrons, although
this number varies considerably. The number of
nephrons is already established during prenatal
development; after birth, new nephrons cannot be
developed and a lost nephron cannot be replaced.
Nephrons
• A nephron consists of a renal corpuscle (glomerulus)
connected to a complicated and twisted tubule that finally
drains into a CD.
• Three types of nephron can be distinguished by the location
of renal corpuscles within the cortex: superficial, midcortical,
and juxtamedullary nephrons.
• There are two types of nephrons: those with long loops of
Henle and those with short loops. Short loops turn back in the
outer medulla or even in the cortex (cortical loops). Long
loops turn back at successive levels of the inner medulla.
 Section Subsection
Renal corpuscle Glomerulus: term used most frequently to refer to entire
renal corpuscle
Bowman capsule
Proximal tubule Convoluted part Straight part (pars recta), or thick
descending limb of Henle loop
Intermediate tubule Descending part, or thin descending limb of Henle loop
Ascending part, or thin ascending limb of Henle loop

Distal tubule Straight part, or thick ascending limb of Henle loop:

subdivided into medullary and cortical parts; the cortical
part contains the macula densa in its terminal portion
Convoluted part

Collecting Duct System

Connecting tubule -Includes the arcades in most species
Collecting duct -Cortical collecting duct Outer medullary collecting duct:
subdivided into an outer stripe and an inner stripe
portion
Inner medullary collecting duct: subdivided into basal,
middle, and papillary portions
Artery renalis
Aa.Interlobaris
Arcuate artery
Afferent arteriole
Efferent arteriole
Descending vasa recta
Ascending vasa recta
Venul
V.Renalis
V.Cava inferior
Glomerulus (Renal Corpuscle)
• The glomerulus comprises a tuft of specialized capillaries
attached to the mesangium, both of which are enclosed in a
pouch-like extension of the tubule that represents the Bowman
capsule
• The capillaries together with the mesangium are covered by
epithelial cells (podocytes) forming the visceral epithelium of
the Bowman capsule.
• At the interface between the glomerular capillaries and the
mesangium on one side and the podocyte layer on the other side,
the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) is developed.
Filtration Pressure

Afferent arterioles pressure: 40-50mmHg

Efferent arterioles pressure: 5-10mmHg
Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR)
- Is the amount of filtrate formed per minute by the two kidneys combined.

- For the average adult male, GFR is about 125 ml/min.

- Man 97-137 ml/min, Woman 88-128 ml/min

- This amounts to a rate of 180 L/day.

- An average of 99% of the filtrate is reabsorbed, so that only 1-2 L of urine per day is
excreted.

- The ability of the kidneys to maintain a relatively stable GFR in spite of the changes
(75 - 175 mmHg) in arterial blood pressure.
Tubular Reabsorption

• About 99% of Water and other

useful small molecules in the
filtrate are normally
reabsorbed back into plasma
by renal tubules.
Proximal convoluted tubule (PCT) reabsorption

• The proximal convoluted tubule (PCT) is formed by one layer of

epithelial cells with long apical microvilli.

• PCT reabsorbs about 65% of the glomerular filtrate and return it to

the blood.
Mechanisms of Proximal Tubular Reabsorption

a) Solvent drag  
b) Active transport of sodium.
c) Secondary active transport of glucose, amino acids, and other
nutrients. 
d) Secondary water reabsorption via osmosis 
e) Secondary ion reabsorption via electrostatic attraction
f) Endocytosis of large solutes
1) Solvent drag
Proteins stay
-driven by high colloid
osmotic pressure (COP) in the H2O
peritubular capillaries
- Water is reabsorbed by
osmosis and carries all other
solutes along.

Proteins
- Both routes are involved.
 2) Osmosis
Water moves from a compartment of low osmolarity to
the compartment of high osmolarity.

low osmolarity
( high H2O conc.) H2O

high osmolarity
( low H2O conc.)
- Fluid arriving in the DCT still contains
about 20% of the water and 10% of the
salts of the glomerular filtrate.

- A distinguishing feature of these parts

of the renal tubule is that they are
subject to hormonal control.
Aldosterone

a. secreted from adrenal gland in

response to a  Na+ or a  K+ in
blood
b. to increase Na+ absorption and K+
secretion in the DCT and cortical
portion of the collecting duct.

c. helps to maintain blood volume and

pressure.
Atrial Natriuretic Factor
-Secreted by the atrial
myocardium in response to high
blood pressure.

-It inhibits sodium and water

reabsorption, increases the output
of both in the urine, and thus
reduces blood volume and
pressure.
Tubular Secretion

- Renal tubule extracts chemicals from the blood and

secretes them into the tubular fluid.

- Serves the purposes of waste removal and acid-base

balance.
Composition and Properties of Urine

•Fresh urine is clear, containing no

blood cells and little proteins. If
cloudy, it could indicate the
presence of bacteria, semen, blood,
or menstrual fluid.
Urine Volume

An average adult produces 1-2 L of urine per day.

a. Excessive urine output is called polyuria.

b. Scanty urine output is oliguria. An output of less than

400 mL/day is insufficient to excrete toxic wastes.
Thank you for attention