Urinary System Pt.2 - Nephron and Filtration

Question 1

What is the renal cortex?

Answer 1

Functional section and it is the more superficial part of the kidney covered by the renal capsule

Question 2

When all the renal pyramids are put together what are they called?

Answer 2

Renal medulla

Question 3

The renal pyramids end at a point called?

Answer 3

Renal papilla

Question 4

What are the renal columns?

Answer 4

The sections between the renal pyramids

Question 5

What parts of the kidney does filtration occur in?

Answer 5

Renal medulla and cortex

Question 6

Where is blood brought from in order to get filtered in the cortex/medulla region?

Answer 6

Needs to be brought in from the abdominal aorta into the renal artery to be filtered

Question 7

Once filtration is complete where does the blood leave through?

Answer 7

Renal vein into the Inferior Vena Cava

Question 8

What does the nephron do? How many nephrons are in each kidney

Answer 8

Located in the cortex and the medulla of the kidney and it filters everything in the blood & puts stuff back in the blood

Note: 2.5 mil Nephrons in each Kidney

Question 9

Once blood is filtered by the nephron where does it go?

Answer 9

Once urine is filtered by nephron, it goes down the renal papilla of pyramid & enters minor calyses to major calyses and join to form renal pelvis & heads toward urinary bladder via ureter

Note: Blood brings a bunch of water, minerals, vitamins etc. to get excreted through urine

Question 10

How many minor calyses and major calyses are in each kidney

Answer 10

• 8-15 minor calyses
• 2-3 major calyses

Question 11

Where is the afferent arteriole located? What does it branch to form?

Answer 11

By the nephron area and it does a lot of branching to form the glomerulus

Question 12

What is the glomerulus and where is it located with respect to the structures around it?

Answer 12

Chunk of arteriole vessels and it located inside the glomerular capsule which is the beginning of the nephron

Question 13

Blood that goes into the vessels that make up the glomerulus go where?

Answer 13

Dumps into the capsule

Water, minerals, metabolites are things that are dumped into the capsule
* Big proteins and a bit of water are not dumped into the capsule

Question 14

What is filtrate?

Answer 14

The stuff that is dumped into the glomerular capsule which is yet to become urine

Question 15

When the glomerular capsule is full what does the nephron do?

Answer 15

It sifts through it to check what could go back into the blood and what it should keep to go to urine

Question 16

Describe the path of the filtrate through the nephron

Answer 16

1. Starts off at the proximal convoluted tubule
2. Travels down through the descending limb and ascending limb - nephron loop
3. Ends at the distal convoluted tubule

Note: At the distal convoluted tubule the filtrate has turned into urine because the blood is perfectly balanced

Question 17

There are several blood vessels that surround the nephron. What are they and what are their purpose?

Answer 17

The peritubular capillaries which are branches of the efferent arteriole which surrounds the loop of the nephron & takes stuff from the filtrate and dumps into blood

Question 18

Once filtrate becomes urine in the distal convoluted tubule where does it go?

Answer 18

The collecting duct through the papilary duct and through the renal papilla to enter a minor calyx

Question 19

Path of blood in the kidneys starts of at the renal artery and ends at the renal vein. What are the arterioles and veins that are in between in which the blood takes

Answer 19

1. Renal Artery
2. Afferent arteriole - goes into the nephron and into the glomerulus within the capsule
3. Efferent arteriole - what’s left of blood leaves capsule via this arteriole
4. Peritubular capillaries - Branches of E.A. that surround the nephron loop
5. Renal vein - Carries perfectly balanced renal blood into the inferior vena cava

Question 20

Explain how filtration works based off this picture

Answer 20

• Afferent arteriole branches off to give the glomerular capillaries of the glomerulus
• Fluid, molecules, etc. are all dumped into the capsule & whatever remains leaves through the E.A. which branch to form the peritubular capillaries
• Filtrate flows into the proximal convoluted tubule & goes through the nephron