Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Renal Blood Flow
Renal Blood Flow
The kidney are highly vascular organ and usually receive 1000 to 1200 ml of
blood per minute (20 – 25% of the cardiac output)
About 600 -700 ml of blood flowing through the kidney per minute is plasma
(assuming HCT of 45% and plasma is 55%)
From renal plasma flow (RPF), 20% (approximately 120 to 140 ml/min) is
filtered at glomerulus and passes into Bowman capsule
The filtration of the plasma per unit of time is known as glomerular filtration rate
(GFR)
The remaining 80% (about 480 ml) of plasma flows through the efferent
arterioles to the peritubular capillaries.
AUTOREGULATION
Activated when mean arterial pressure drops below 80 mmHg; recall that too-
low blood pressure can cause tissue necrosis
To raise blood volume and pressure, the renin-angiotensin system produces
hormones that act on multiple organs, including the renal arterioles.
One of these hormones, angiotensin II, has dose-dependent effects on GFR:
– At low levels, angiotensin II reduces renal blood flow but increases GFR.
– At higher levels, it reduces both renal blood flow and GFR.
First, reduced renal blood flow induces the juxtaglomerular cells to
secrete renin, which is an enzyme.
Within the blood stream, renin catalyzes the conversion
of angiotensinogen to angiotensin I, which is a hormone with only mild
vasoconstrictor effects.
However, as it travels through the blood, *angiotensin-converting enzyme8
converts angiotensin I to angiotensin II.
Angiotensin II has widespread effects throughout the body that raise blood
volume and pressure
Renin angiotensin
aldosterone system
Angiotensin II induces arteriole vasoconstriction, especially of the
efferent arteriole, which has more angiotensin-sensitive receptors than the
afferent arteriole does.
Reduced blood flow through the efferent arteriole raises hydrostatic
capillary pressure within the glomerulus, which helps to maintain GFR within
the homeostatic range.
However, if efferent arteriole blood flow is reduced too much, the
oncotic capillary pressures overwhelm the hydrostatic pressures, and GFR is
reduced.
Renal Clearance