ANHB2214 Study Guide - Final Guide: Renal Vein, Macula Densa, Peritubular Capillaries
The Urinary System:
• General structure of the kidney
o Bean shaped organ in abdominal cavity
o Covered by a connective tissue capsule
o Medial border → concave → contains a hilus through which renal
vessels/nerves pass and origin of ureter leaves
o Divided into outer cortex and inner medulla
o Medulla
▪ 8-12 conical structures → pyramids
▪ Bases of pyramid face capsule, apices face hilus
▪ Pyramids consist of numerous tubules and vessels which
converge from the base to apex
▪ Tissue between pyramids → renal column → continuous
with cortex
o Cortex
▪ Multiple straight and convoluted tubules, blood vessels and
renal corpuscles
▪ Pyramid with is overlying cortical tissue and neighboring
tissue in renal columns → lobe of kidney
▪ Lobes of kidney further subdivided into lobules → consists
of cortical material between 2 interlobular arteries
o Renal pelvis
▪ Expanded origin of the ureter
▪ Divides into major calyces
▪ Major calyces further subdivide into minor calyces →
collect urine from the apex of a pyramid
▪ Portion of the pyramidal apex that projects into minor calyx
→ papilla
• Nephron
o Functional unit of the kidney
o Consists of
▪ Nephron → renal corpuscle + convoluted and straight
tubules
▪ Renal corpuscle → Bowman’s capsule + glomerulus
▪ Glomerulus → tuft of capillaries contained in Bowman’s
capsule
• Renal Corpuscle
o Filtration apparatus of kidney
o Produces ~180L of plasma filtrate per day
o Consists of a tuft of capillaries (glomerulus) sitting inside a double
walled epithelial capsule Bowman’s capsule
o Blood enters via afferent arterioles and leaves via efferent
arterioles
o )nner layer of Bowman’s capsule envelops capillaries of
glomerulus → visceral epithelium
o Outer layer forms wall of capsule → parietal epithelium
o Both layers are made of simple squamous epithelium
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