The Urinary System

Question 1

What are the four major components making up the urinary system?

Answer 1

The kidneys, the ureters, the bladder and the urethra

Question 2

Blood is supplied to each kidney by which vessels?

Answer 2

The renal arteries which arise from the aorta

Question 3

Which vessels drain the blood from each kidney?

Answer 3

One or more renal veins drain the blood from each kidney to the inferior vena cava

Question 4

The kidneys have a principle function of maintaining which three things

Answer 4

maintaining water, electrolytes and acid base

Question 5

What do the kidneys excrete

Answer 5

toxic metabolic waste products especially nitrogenous molecules such as urea and creatinine

Question 6

The kidney is involved in the osmotic regulation of what?

Answer 6

Blood plasma

Question 7

The kidney is involved in other functions including hormonal and metabolic functions, list three things that they synthesise/aid in synthesis

Answer 7

Renin, erythropoietin and vit D

Question 8

What does the renin synthesis in the kidney help in

Answer 8

a mechanism to control blood pressure

Question 9

What does the synthesis of erythropoietin in the kidneys aid in

Answer 9

promotes red blood cell formation

Question 10

How is the kidney involved in vitamin D and absorption of calcium

Answer 10

Vit d which regulates calcium balance is converted to a biologically active form in the kidney

Question 11

What is the site of entry and exit of the renal blood vessels and the ureter called?

Answer 11

The hilium

Question 12

*Label this kidney homie

Answer 12

There ya go

Question 13

Where do nephrons arise from and where do they go to

Answer 13

nephrons arise in the cortex, loop down into the medulla and return to the cortex

Question 14

The renal medulla is made up of how many pyramids?

Answer 14

10-18 pyramids

Question 15

What do the renal medulla project into?

Answer 15

Into calyces-papillae / renal papillae

Question 16

The surface of the calyces-papillae/ renal papillae is the opening of what?

Answer 16

The collecting ducts

Question 17

The base of the pyramid consists of 400-500 elongated parallel arrays of tubules called?

Answer 17

medullary rays - they penetrate the cortex

Question 18

What does each medullary ray consist of?

Answer 18

Straight collecting ducts surrounded by tubular portions of the nephron

Question 19

What is the functional unit of the kidney?

Answer 19

The nephron

Question 20

*Label this diagram of the functional unit of the kidney

Answer 20

there ya go

Question 21

How many nephrons are there

Answer 21

1-4 million filtering units

Question 22

What does the nephron consist of

Answer 22

the renal corpuscle, the proximal convoluted tubule, the loop of henle and the distal convoluted tubule , collecting duct

Question 23

What is the renal corpuscle?

Answer 23

a tuft of capillaries, the glomerulus as well as the urinary poles, the afferent and efferent vessels, etc

Question 24

who discovered the renal corpuscle?

Answer 24

sir william bowman - a surgeon 1816-1892

Question 25

*Label this image of the renal corpuscle

Answer 25

there ya go

Question 26

What are the two poles on the renal corpuscle

Answer 26

the urinary pole and the vascular pole

Question 27

what may the glomerulus and bowman's capsule sometimes be referred to as

Answer 27

the malpighian body

Question 28

What two layers are present on the Bowman's capsule

Answer 28

the visceral and parietal layer

Question 29

*label the visceral and parietal layer of the Bowman's capsule

Answer 29

there ya go

Question 30

The visceral layer of the bowmans capsule is modified during embryological development to form what?

Answer 30

Podocytes

Question 31

What are podocytes?

Answer 31

specialised cells with primary and secondary processes - foot processes

Question 32

what is special about the endothelium of the glomerulus cells

Answer 32

a fenestrated endothelium exists

Question 33

what are mesangial cells in the glomerulus?

Answer 33

they are supporting cells for the capillaries that produce mesangial matrix

Question 34

What does the proximal convoluted tubule look like in comparison to the distal tubule

Answer 34

it is longer and larger than the distal tubule

Question 35

What cells line the proximal convoluted tubule?

Answer 35

simple cuboidal

Question 36

why do cells of the proximal convoluted tubule deeply eosinophilic

Answer 36

because they have many mitochondria

Question 37

Why do cells of the proximal convoluted tubule have a brush border when viewed under the microscope

Answer 37

because they have microvilli AND THE DISTAL ONES DO NOT

Question 38

What is the function of the proximal convoluted tubule?

Answer 38

active absorption of peptides and glucose as well as ion exchange

Question 39

how would you describe the distal convoluted tubule?

Answer 39

the last segment of the nephron

Question 40

What type of epithelium lines the distal convoluted tubule?

Answer 40

Simple cuboidal epithelium

Question 41

How would you explain the distal convoluted tubule in terms of brush borders and eosiophilic appearance

Answer 41

no brush border and lacks eosinophilic appearance because there arent as many mitochondria - not as active

Question 42

Eosinophilic staining of a structure means

Answer 42

Eosin is pink in color and is an acidic dye (negatively charged) that binds to positively charged particles like the mitochondria and many components of the cytoplasm.

Question 43

Urine passes from the distal convoluted tubule to which structure

Answer 43

to the collecting ducts

Question 44

Collecting ducts join each other to form larger straight ducts called

Answer 44

papillary ducts of Bellini

Question 45

Who discovered the papillary ducts of Bellini?

Answer 45

Lorenzo bellini

Question 46

what is the main function of the loop of henle

Answer 46

to create a concentration gradient in the medulla of the kidney

Question 47

What system does the loop of henle use in order to create a concentration gradient in the medulla

Answer 47

the countercurrent multiplier system

Question 48

How does the loop of henle create a concentration gradient

Answer 48

by utilising the sodium pumps to create an area of high sodium conc deep in the medulla near the collecting duct

Question 49

how does water present in the filtrate in the collecting duct flow out of the collecting duct?

Answer 49

through aquaporin channels moving passively down its concentration gradient

Question 50

The process of the countercurrent multiplier system does what

Answer 50

it reabsorbs water and creates a concentrated urine for excretion

Question 51

the absorptive capacity of the collecting duct is controlled by what

Answer 51

ADH- antidiuretic hormone

Question 52

What will a lack of adh in the collecting duct lead to

Answer 52

lack of adh will lead to a lack of absoprtion of water so production of dilute urine

Question 53

what will a release of adh into the collecting duct result in

Answer 53

release of adh makes collecting duct permeable to water and this is then absorbed passively into the hypertonic medulla leading to production progressively more concentrated urine