• Primary function of nephron loop is to generate salinity gradient
that enables collecting duct to concentrate the urine and conserve water. • Electrolyte reabsorption from filtrate. • Thick segment reabsorbs 25% of Na+, K+, and Cl− in filtrate. • Ions leave cells by active transport and diffusion. • NaCl remains in the tissue fluid of renal medulla. • Water cannot follow since thick segment is impermeable. • Tubular fluid very dilute as it enters distal convoluted tubule. Functional Relationship of the Nephron Loop
• Figure 23.21 Nephron Segments The Distal Convoluted Tubule and Collecting Duct
• Fluid arriving in the DCT still contains about 20% of the water and 7% of the salts from glomerular filtrate. • If this were all passed as urine, it would amount to 36 L/day.
• DCT and collecting duct reabsorb variable amounts of water and
salt and are regulated by several hormones. • Aldosterone, atrial natriuretic peptide, ADH, and parathyroid hormone. The Distal Convoluted Tubule and Collecting Duct
• Two kinds of cells in the DCT and collecting duct.
• Principal cells: • Most numerous. • Have receptors for hormones. • Involved in salt and water balance.
• Intercalated cells: • Involved in acid–base balance by secreting H+ into tubule lumen and reabsorbing K+. The Distal Convoluted Tubule and Collecting Duct
• Aldosterone—the “salt-retaining hormone”.
• Steroid secreted by the adrenal cortex. • Triggers for aldosterone secretion are: • When blood Na+ concentration falls or • When K+ concentration rises or • There is a drop in blood pressure ® renin release ® angiotensin II formation ® stimulates adrenal cortex to secrete aldosterone. The Distal Convoluted Tubule and Collecting Duct
• Functions of aldosterone. • Acts on thick segment of nephron loop, DCT, and cortical portion of collecting duct. • Stimulates reabsorption of Na+ and secretion of K+. • Water and Cl− follow the Na+. • Net effect is that the body retains NaCl and water. • Helps maintain blood volume and pressure. • Urine volume is reduced. • Urine has an elevated K+ concentration. The Distal Convoluted Tubule and Collecting Duct
• Natriuretic peptides—secreted by atrial myocardium of the heart in response to high
blood pressure.
• Four actions result in the excretion of more salt and water in the urine, thus reducing blood volume and pressure. • Dilates afferent arteriole, constricts efferent arteriole: GFR. • Inhibits renin and aldosterone secretion. • Inhibits secretion of ADH. • Inhibits NaCl reabsorption by collecting duct. The Distal Convoluted Tubule and Collecting Duct
• Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) secreted by posterior pituitary.
• Dehydration, loss of blood volume, and rising blood osmolarity stimulate arterial baroreceptors and hypothalamic osmoreceptors. • This triggers release of ADH from the posterior pituitary. • ADH makes collecting duct more permeable to water. • Water in the tubular fluid reenters the tissue fluid and bloodstream rather than being lost in urine. The Distal Convoluted Tubule and Collecting Duct
• Parathyroid hormone (PTH) secreted from parathyroid glands in
response to calcium deficiency (hypocalcemia). • Acts on PCT to increase phosphate excretion. • Acts on the thick segment of the ascending limb of the nephron loop, and on the DCT to increase calcium reabsorption.
• Increases phosphate content and lowers calcium content in urine.
• Because phosphate is not retained, calcium ions stay in circulation rather than precipitating into bone tissue as calcium phosphate. • PTH stimulates calcitriol synthesis by epithelial cells of the PCT. • Summary: • PCT reabsorbs 65% of glomerular filtrate and returns it to peritubular capillaries. • Much reabsorption by osmosis and cotransport mechanisms linked to active transport of sodium. • Nephron loop reabsorbs another 25% of filtrate. • DCT reabsorbs Na+, Cl−, and water under hormonal control, especially aldosterone and ANP. • The tubules also extract drugs, wastes, and some solutes from the blood and secrete them into the tubular fluid. • DCT completes the process of making urine. • Collecting duct conserves water. Control of Water Loss 1
• How concentrated the urine becomes depends on body’s state of hydration.
• Water diuresis—drinking large volumes of water will produce a large volume of
hypotonic urine. • Cortical portion of CD reabsorbs NaCl, but it is impermeable to water. • Salt is removed from the urine but water stays in. • Urine concentration may be as low as 50 mOsm/L. Control of Water Loss 2
• Dehydration leads to production of hypertonic urine.
• Urine becomes scanty and more concentrated. • High blood osmolarity stimulates posterior pituitary to release ADH and then an increase in synthesis of aquaporin channels by renal tubule cells. • More water is reabsorbed by collecting duct. • Urine is more concentrated.
• If BP is low in a dehydrated person, GFR will be low.
• Filtrate moves more slowly and there is more time for reabsorption. • More salt removed, more water reabsorbed, and less urine produced. The Countercurrent Multiplier 1
• The ability of kidney to concentrate urine depends on salinity gradient in renal medulla. • Four times more salty in the renal medulla than the cortex.
• Nephron loop acts as countercurrent multiplier.
• Multiplier: continually recaptures salt and returns it to extracellular fluid of medulla which multiplies the osmolarity of adrenal medulla. • Countercurrent : because of fluid flowing in opposite directions in adjacent tubules of nephron loop. The Countercurrent Multiplier 2
• Fluid flowing downward in descending limb:
• Passes through environment of increasing osmolarity. • Most of descending limb very permeable to water but not to NaCl. • Water passes from tubule into the ECF leaving salt behind. • Concentrates tubular fluid to 1,200 mOsm/L at lower end of loop.
• Fluid flowing upward in ascending limb:
• Impermeable to water. • Reabsorbs Na+, K+, and Cl− by active transport pumps into ECF. • Maintains high osmolarity of renal medulla. • Tubular fluid becomes dilute: 100 mOsm/L at top of loop. The Countercurrent Multiplier 3
• Recycling of urea adds to high osmolarity of deep medulla.
• Lower end of collecting duct is permeable to urea but neither thick segment of loop nor DCT is permeable to urea. • Urea is continually cycled from collecting duct to the nephron loop and back. • Urea remains concentrated in the collecting duct and some of it always diffuses out into the medulla adding to osmolarity. Countercurrent Multiplier of Nephron Loop
• Figure 23.20 Summary of Reabsorption and Secretion
• Figure 23.22 Most filtered nutrients are reabsorbed.
180-200 L of filtrate produced per day 1 – 2 L of urine produced per day REABSORPTION IN PCT Aquaporin REABSORPTION AND SECRETION IN NEPHRON LOOP SECRETION AND REABSORPTION IN DCT SECRETION AND REABSORPTION IN DCT Collecting Ducts and Recovery of Water
Collecting Duct Intercalated Cell Function and Regulation
Nejsum, Lene N. “The renal plumbing system: aquaporin water channels.” Cellular and Ankita Roy, Mohammad M. Al-bataineh, Núria M. Pastor-Soler Molecular Life Sciences CMLS 62 (2005): 1692-1706. CJASN Feb 2015, CJN.08880914; DOI: 10.2215/CJN.08880914 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF URINE Urine
Credit: the Renal Unit at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Edren.org. Image use under Creative Commons license.
