Human A&PBIO 304 · American River College ← Week 08 pre-work

BIO 304 · Week 08 · Interactive Workbook

Kidney Anatomy & Glomerular Filtration

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Part 1 of 4 · Recall

Fill in the blanks

Type the term that completes each statement, using the word bank. Pull it from memory first.

Word bank

WaterCortical (~85%)Ascending loop of HenleBowman capsule hydrostatic pressure (~15 mmHg)CortexMacula densaActivates vitamin DBowman capsuleFenestrated capillary endotheliumRenal artery / veinAlbuminRenal pyramidsNormal adultBest clinical measureSympathetic nervous system

  1. outer; houses most of the nephron
  2. cone-shaped; apex (papilla) drips into minor calyx
  3. enter/exit at hilum; ~20% of cardiac output goes to kidneys
  4. cup around glomerulus; receives filtrate
  5. permeable to ions, not water; sets up gradient
  6. short loops; do most filtration
  7. lets out water and small solutes; blocks cells
  8. freely filtered
  9. normally not filtered (charge + size); appearance in urine = problem
  10. pushes back in
  11. ~125 mL/min, ~180 L/day
  12. creatinine clearance estimates GFR
  13. severe drop in BP → afferent constriction → GFR drops
  14. cells of DCT next to afferent arteriole; chemoreceptors
  15. final hydroxylation step

Define it: high-yield vocabulary

Write a clear definition in your own words for each term.

  1. Nephron
  2. Glomerulus
  3. Bowman capsule
  4. Proximal convoluted tubule
  5. Loop of Henle
  6. Distal convoluted tubule
  7. Collecting duct
  8. Filtration membrane
  9. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR)
  10. Net filtration pressure
  11. RAAS
  12. Macula densa

Part 2 of 4 · Anatomy lab

Draw and label

Box A. Kidney in coronal section + nephron schematic

Directions

  1. Left half: draw a kidney cut in half (coronal section, kidney bean shape).
  2. Label the outer cortex (granular, lighter), then the inner medulla containing several renal pyramids (cone-shaped). Tip of each pyramid (renal papilla) points into a minor calyx. Minor calyces converge into major calyces, which empty into the renal pelvis, which empties into the ureter. Label every structure.
  3. Add the renal artery (entering) and renal vein (leaving) at the hilum.
  4. Right half: draw a single nephron schematic. Start with the glomerulus inside Bowman's capsule (in the cortex). Continue through the proximal convoluted tubule (PCT, in cortex), down into the loop of Henle (which dips into the medulla, with a thin descending limb and a thick ascending limb), then back up to the distal convoluted tubule (DCT, in cortex), and finally into the collecting duct (which descends through the medulla and empties into the renal papilla).
  5. Label every nephron segment.
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Box B. Glomerulus and Bowman's capsule close-up

Directions

  1. Draw the glomerulus as a tuft of capillaries enclosed inside Bowman's capsule (a cup-like structure).
  2. Show the afferent arteriole (larger diameter) entering the glomerulus, and the efferent arteriole (smaller diameter) leaving the glomerulus. Label both.
  3. Note: the difference in arteriole diameters creates high pressure inside the glomerular capillaries, which is what drives filtration.
  4. Draw the filtration barrier: capillary endothelial cells (with pores), the glomerular basement membrane (negatively charged, blocks proteins), and the podocyte foot processes (forming filtration slits). Label all three.
  5. Show filtered fluid (filtrate) passing into Bowman's space and then into the PCT.
  6. Note: filtrate contains water, ions, glucose, amino acids, urea (small things). It excludes RBCs, WBCs, platelets, and large proteins (these stay in the blood).
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Your uploaded drawing for Box B. Glomerulus and Bowman's capsule close-up

Structures to label

Label each on your drawing.

  1. Renal cortex
  2. Renal medulla
  3. Renal pyramid
  4. Renal papilla
  5. Minor calyx
  6. Major calyx
  7. Renal pelvis
  8. Ureter
  9. Renal artery
  10. Renal vein
  11. Hilum
  12. Glomerulus
  13. Bowman's capsule
  14. Bowman's space
  15. Afferent arteriole
  16. Efferent arteriole
  17. Proximal convoluted tubule (PCT)
  18. Loop of Henle
  19. Distal convoluted tubule (DCT)
  20. Collecting duct
  21. Podocyte
  22. Glomerular basement membrane

Part 3 of 4 · Physiology lab

Reason it through

A. Filtration rules: in or out of the filtrate?

1. Water (H2O).
2. Sodium ions (Na+).
3. Glucose.
4. Urea.
5. Red blood cells.
6. Albumin (a small plasma protein, ~67 kDa, negatively charged).
7. Creatinine (a small molecule, freely filtered, used clinically to estimate GFR).

B. Synthesis

1. Calculate cardiac output to kidney perfusion: at rest, the kidneys receive about 20 to 25 percent of cardiac output. If CO is 5 L/min, what is renal blood flow? Why is the kidney so heavily perfused?
2. Predict what happens to glomerular filtration rate (GFR) if (a) the afferent arteriole constricts, (b) the efferent arteriole constricts. Explain using the pressure-gradient concept.
3. A patient with severe hypertension develops kidney damage over years. Predict how chronic high pressure damages the delicate glomerular structures, and explain why proteinuria (protein in the urine) is a hallmark of this damage.

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