Main functions of kidneys

• Chapter 25:
• Get rid of ,
but not .

• Chapter 26:
• Help regulate ,
, and
.
commons.wikimedia.org & psychology.wikia.com
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Functions: get rid of *wastes* (like urea, pictured), but not *nutrients* (like glucose,
pictured) -- that’s Chapter 25! Help regulate fluid, acidity/pH, and electrolyte levels –
that’s Chapter 26 (next class)! *** Consider adding stuff about regulation of GFR –
changing radius of afferent and efferent arterioles, like in PhysioEx.

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 Ch. 25: Test Question Templates
Q1. If given a chemical structure or description of a molecule or ion, determine whether it
glomeruli into Bowman’s capsule.
Example. Do you think the molecule below (from pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleHtml/2015/SC/c5sc02329g)

Q2. If given information about two molecules’ rates of filtration, reabsorption, and secretio
Example. Drugs A and B are similar in structure. Both are filtered at the glomerulus; neither is actively secrete

Q1. This is a peptide; each circle is an amino acid, so the whole thing is about 30 amino
acids long. Since it is still smaller than full-length proteins, which are often hundreds of
amino acids long, it should be filtered, though perhaps not as readily as small ions and
molecules like Na+ or glucose. Q2. Ignoring any differences in breakdown by the liver,
etc., A should persist longer because, with each pass through the kidney, less of A winds
up in the urine (due to reabsorption).

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 Q3. Interpret a graph of nephron amounts versus distance along the nephron, or draw
Example. Based on the graph below (from a healthy person), could substance X be a plasma protein? Sodium? G

Q3. It is not protein because protein shouldn’t be in the proximal tubule to begin with,
and proteins aren’t reabsorbed to any great extent. It is not sodium because sodium
reabsorption occurs in many places along the nephron, not just the proximal tubule. It
could be glucose because it’s consistent with what we know about glucose filtration
(occurs), reabsorption (occurs at the proximal tubule), and secretion (does not occur).

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 3 processes contributing to excretion

Amerman (2016), Figure 24.11 (like Marieb & Hoehn, Figure 25.11)
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Next 3 slides are an overview of waste-sorting and nutrient-saving. *** These 3

processes collectively determine what winds up in your urine and what stays in your
blood/body!

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 Analogy to sorting
wastes at home

filtration

secretion

reabsorption

Blood Pre-pee
Dr. C, clker.com, uline.com 5

The simple way to sort wastes (just remove what you don’t want!) versus the way that
your kidneys do it (do a “first draft” of throwing stuff out, then make lots of changes!).

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 Direction (into / Where along Protein carriers
out of capillaries?) nephron? used? (yes/no)

Filtration

Secretion

Reabsorption
Solutes in the plasma may be lost in the urine.
They’re governed by a formula that’s well worth learnin’.
filtration
3 different processes control what you’re releasin’:
Filtration plus secretion minus reabsorption is excretion. secretion

reabsorption
http://faculty.washington.edu/crowther/Misc/Songs/pee.shtml
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Filtration: out, capsule only, no. Secretion: out, rest of nephron, often. Reabsorption: in,
rest of nephron, often.

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 Journey through the nephron
Nephron = structural and functional unit of kidney = renal corpuscle + renal tubule
Filtration membrane
1. The glomerular capsule (Bowman’s capsule) (3 layers)
Efferent
arteriole

Afferent
arteriole

Plasma
Filtrate
Q1. Which substances are too big to become part (pre-pee)
of the filtrate?

Q2. Which substances ARE included in the filtrate?

Marieb & Hoehn (2019), Figure 25.12 7

Now we will step through the parts of the nephron – about 1 slide per part – to quickly
review the functions of each. First up is the Bowman’s capsule and the glomerulus
within it. *** Q1. Proteins and cells are too big. Q2. Everything smaller than proteins:
water molecules and small solutes (Na +, glucose, urea, steroid hormones, etc.). *** The
image shows the “filtration membrane,” which has 3 layers: capillary endothelium
(fenestrated), basement membrane, and foot processes of podocytes

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 Filtration at capillaries
is controlled by 2
types of pressures
We learned about capillary
filtration in Chapter 19.

The same principles and types

of pressure apply here, even
though the exact numbers are
different.

Overall, there is a large NFP

here, driving a lot of fluid out
of the glomerulus. However,
almost all of that fluid will
ultimately be reabsorbed by
vessels near other parts of the
nephron.

Marieb & Hoehn (2019), Figure 25.13 8

Filtration at the corpuscle is mostly similar to filtration in general, as discussed in Ch. 19.
Most importantly, (1) filtration is driven by the combined forces of hydrostatic pressure
and osmotic pressure, and (2) those forces result in a net transfer of fluid (and small
solutes) out of the capillaries. *** Ask them what HP and OP stand for? (Hydrostatic
Pressure, Osmotic Pressure.) *** Does the kidney have lymphatic capillaries???
Presumably – they are present just about everywhere besides bones and teeth.

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 2. The proximal
(convoluted)
tubule:
reabsorption
and secretion

Q1. Does this

figure show
examples of
reabsorption or
secretion or both?

Marieb & Hoehn

(2019), Figure 25.16 9

From Bowman’s capsule to PCT. Note that there are blood vessels next to the tubule,
though not shown in the overview pic. *** Q1. Everything in this figure is going from
tubule lumen to blood – reabsorption. *** Note – comment on paracellular route?

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 3. The Loop of Henle: 2 jobs

Marieb & Hoehn (2019), Focus Figure 25.1 10

Loop of Henle (nephron loop). *** 2 jobs are more reabsorption (H 2O, NaCl) and
establishing the osmotic gradient along the medulla that is used by the collecting duct
for water reabsorption.

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 4. The distal (convoluted) tubule:
more reabsorption and secretion

Q1. What is this molecule, and where was it made?

(What it does is shown at right.)

Wikipedia; Martini et al. (2015), Figure 26-14b

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DCT. Functionally, is it like the PCT? Yes – more secretion and reabsorption. *** Q1.
Aldosterone, made by the adrenal cortex (zona glomerulosa – outer cortex).

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 5. The collecting duct* (without ADH)
*technically not
part of a nephron
because multiple
DCTs feed into a
single CD

Note the osmotic 300

gradient along the
medulla (thanks to
the loop of Henle) 600
and between the
collecting duct
lumen and the 900
interstitium.

1200

Freeman et al. (2014), Figure 43.17

(like Marieb & Hoehn Figure 25.20a) 12

CD. The main function is shown over the next 2 slides. Here on this slide we get a large
volume of dilute urine.…

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 5. The collecting duct – with ADH
Q1. What
secretes ADH?

Q2. What exactly

300 does ADH do?

600

900
Q3. Under what
conditions should
1200 ADH be secreted?

Freeman et al. (2014), Figure 43.17

(like Marieb & Hoehn Figure 25.20b) 13

… But here on this slide, we get a SMALL volume of CONCENTRATED urine. So what’s
going on? Let’s back up and note again the osmotic gradient along the medulla…. ***
Q1. The posterior pituitary. Q2. ADH stimulates the insertion of aquaporins (water
channels) into the membranes of the cells lining the collecting duct. Q3. When you’re
dehydrated; when water needs to be conserved.

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1 a. Movement of fluid and small solutes out of the glomerular capillaries, as dictated by
hydrostatic and osmotic pressures. b. Movement of substances from the blood into the
nephron (proximal or distal tubule, loop, or collecting duct), generally involving cell
membrane transport proteins. c. Movement of substances from the nephron (proximal
or distal tubule, loop, or collecting duct) into the blood, often involving membrane
proteins. 2. Proteins and cells.

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For any substance that is present in the blood, we can make a graph of the amount of it passing through the sections of a nep

In this type of graph, we will focus on relative trends. That is, as pre-pee moves through the nephron, does the amount of the
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 A simple case is for the molecule inulin (NOT insulin), which is small enough to be filtered into Bowman’s capsule, but is neither secre

In words: inulin concentration increases in the capsule, then does not change in
the proximal tubule, loop of Henle, distal tubule, or collecting duct.
3. Would this graph look the same if the rates of secretion and reabsorption were not zero, but equal to each other at each p
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3. Yes.

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 Now consider the drug morphine (image at
right), which is actively secreted into the
proximal and distal tubules, but not reabsorbed.
4. Is morphine small enough to be filtered from
the glomerulus into Bowman’s capsule?
(Hint: how does the size of morphine compare to
the size of proteins?) image: sciencebase.com

5. Based on the information you have, draw the graph for morphine.
In each of the 5 segments, show whether the concentration
increases, decreases, or stays the same.

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4. Yes. 5. Amount should rise along the capsule, rise further along proximal tubule, stay
steady along loop of Henle, rise further along distal tubule, stay steady along collecting
duct.

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6. Morphine would be more concentrated than M2 in the collecting duct. 7. Since M2 is
being excreted at a lower rate, M2 would persist longer.

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 Albumin is the most abundant protein in the plasma. It is ~580 amino acids long and has a molecular w
Draw a graph for albumen in a healthy person.

In some types of kidney disease, more albumen than usual is able to escape the glomeruli. Add a 2nd
Based on the above, are significant amounts of protein in the urine normal, or a symptom of disease?

8. Healthy: curve should just be a straight line along the bottom, showing no filtration,
secretion, or reabsorption. 9. Disease: amount rises along the capsule and then stays
steady along the rest of the nephron. 10. Having more than tiny amounts of protein in
the urine is unusual, and often a symptom of disease.

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 Sodium (Na+) is reabsorbed along most of the nephron, including the ascending limb of the loop of Henle (but not the desc
11. Draw the graph for Na+ in the absence and in the presence of aldosterone.
(Label your two lines “NO ALD” and “WITH ALD.”)

12. Despite the changes in Na+ amount graphed above, the Na+ concentration does
not change that much between the Bowman’s capsule and the collecting duct.
Why not?

Finally, let’s consider glucose in normal and diabetic people (next slide)…. 20

11. For both NO ALD and WITH ALD, amount should rise along the capsule, drop along
proximal tubule, stay steady along the first half of the loop (descending limb), drop
along the second half of the loop (ascending limb). Then, along the distal tubule and
collecting duct, the WITH ALD curve should drop, while the NO ALD curve should fall
less steeply or stay steady. 12. Lots of water is reabsorbed along the nephron too. It
turns out that if most of the Na+ is reabsorbed, but most of the water is reabsorbed
too, the
*concentration* of Na+ in the water in the collecting duct is fairly similar to the
concentration in the Bowman’s capsule.

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 Is glucose small enough to be filtered into Bowman’s capsule?

Would it be advantageous for the body to secrete glucose? Why or why not?

Glucose reabsorption through membrane proteins occurs along the proximal tubule. Draw the curve for glucose during eu

16. By the end of the collecting duct, the “pre-pee” has become urine. Through
which structures does it pass on its way out of the body?

17. Based on all of the above, describe the contents of a healthy person’s urine in
terms of its contents of morphine (if the person has been given morphine), albumen, sodium, and glucose.
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13. Yes. 14. No – glucose is a valuable nutrient that shouldn’t be pissed away! 15. For
euglycemia, the amount of glucose rises along the capsule, drops to to 0 along the
proximal tubule, and then stays at 0 for the rest of the nephron. For hyperglycemia, the
amount of glucose rises along the capsule even more steeply than for the euglycemia
case, to a higher peak value. Then it drops along the proximal tubule, but not all the way
to 0. This non-0 value is maintained along the rest of the nephron. Yes, glucose in the
urine is often a sign of disease. This glucosuria typically does not reflect any problem
with the kidney per se; rather, it simply means that glucose levels in the blood are too
high, overwhelming the nephrons’ ability to reabsorb it all. 16. Papillary ducts, minor
and major calyces, renal pelvis, ureter, urinary bladder, urethra. 17. A fair amount of
morphine (assuming the person is taking morphine), essentially no albumen, a bit of
sodium, and no glucose.

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Ch. 25: Additional Resources
The Pearson Mastering site has some helpful animations and activities on filtration, s
Go to Study Area => Interactive Physiology => Urinary System
Another Dr. C kidney song: “Henle’s Water Music”
https://faculty.washington.edu/crowther/Misc/Songs/osmolarity2.shtml
Other suggestions? Let me know…

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 Answer key for Suggested Lecture Outline file

• You should already have access to answers to some of

the questions (Check Your Understanding, online Practice
Quiz, online Practice Test)
• Answers to pre-lecture questions and end-of-
chapter Review Questions will be in the Presenter
Notes that accompany this slide.

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ANSWERS TO PRE-LECTURE QUESTIONS... PL1. Answers will vary. PL2. Filtration is the
movement of fluid out of capillaries into the surrounding interstitial fluid, as
governed by the hydrostatic and osmotic pressures inside and outside the capillaries.
PL3.
Hydrostatic and osmotic. PL4. Proteins cannot generally get out of the kidney’s
capillaries, but molecules and ions smaller than proteins can. PL5. Aldosterone
increases sodium reabsorption by the kidney (while increasing potassium secretion into
the pre-urine). PL6. Antidiuretic hormone increases water retention (by causing
aquaporins to be inserted into the membranes of cells lining the collecting duct). ***
ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS (pages 1010-1011)… 1: D. 4: D. 5: C. 21: It decreases
the amount of sodium in the urine and increases the amount of potassium in the urine.

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