GENERAL FEATURES

 Component of The System:

– Kidney: Paired
– Urinary tract: Ureters, urinary
 General Functions of The System
– Filtering the blood
– Regulating ion, salt and water
– Produce renin and erythropoietin
KIDNEY
General Organization
 Measure about 11x 6 cm
 Bean-shaped
 Retroperitoneal
 Encapsulated by dense connective tissue
and surrounded by adipose tissue
 Frontal Plane Feature of The Kidney
Without Microscope
 Renal sinus
 Hilum
 Cortex
 Medulla
 Medullary rays
 Renal lobes
 Renal lobules
 Renal Sinus: contains :
– The renal pelvis
– The entering and exiting blood vessels,
nerves, and adipose tissue
 Hillum: this consist of the renal sinus and
its contents
 Cortex: it contains the renal corpuscle,
proximal and distal convoluted tubules,
peritubular capillaries, and medullary rays.
 Medulla: it consist of 8-18 conical
medullary pyramids, collecting duct, loop
of Henle, and vasa recta.
 Medullary rays : these fingerlike
extensions of medullary tissue, consist of
collecting tubules and duct.
 Renal lobes : 8-18 lobes, each lobe
consist of a medullary pyramid.
 Renal lobules : Medullary ray the center
of each renal lobules
 Nephrons
 Are the functional subunit of the
kidney.
 Each includes :
1. Renal corpuscle
2. Proximal convoluted tubule
3. Loop of Henle
4. Distal convoluted tubule.
 BASIC

ORGANISATION OF

THE NEPHRON,

COLLECTING SYSTEM

AND RENAL

VASCULATURE
1. Renal Corpuscle
 As the blood filtering unit of the nephron,
consist of :
– Glomerulus is a small tuft of fenestrated
capillaries, mesangial cells.
– Bowman’s capsule is a double walled
epithelial chamber.
Visceral layer: Podocytes
Parietal layer: Squamous epithelium
 Filtration barrier, separate the capillary
lumen from the urinary space.
Includes :
– The diaphragm-covered capillary
fenestrations
– The fused basal lamina of capillary
endothelial cells and podocytes
– The diaphragm-covered filtrations slits that lie
between the interdigitating pedicels.
 Vascular pole:
– the afferent arterioles
– the efferent arterioles
 Urinary pole : the proximal convoluted tubule
exits
 Filtration mechanism :
– Blood afferent  glomerulus  efferent
Proximal convoluted tubule
2. Proximal Convoluted Tubules
 Lining by simple low columnar to cuboidal
epithelium, has abundant brush border.
 Lies in the cortex
3. Loop of Henle
 U-shape epithelial tube, thick and thin descending
limbs, thick and thin ascending limbs
 Extend from the proximal convoluted tubule and
empties into the distal convoluted tubule.
 Lining cells: low collumnar or cuboidal to
squamous and back to cuboidal epithelium
4. Distal Convoluted tubule
 This final segment of the nephron lies
in the cortex.
 Its epithelial lining is low cuboidal with
no brush border.
 The distal tubule epithelium form a
macula densa .
 Collecting Tubules and Ducts
 They are lining by
cuboidal epithelial in
the smaller tubule
and columnar
epithelial in the
larger ducts of the
medulla.
 Juxtaglomerular Apparatus
 Located near the vascular pole of a
renal corpuscle.

 This includes :
• Juxtaglomerular cells
• Macula densa
• Polkissen (extraglomerular
mesangial cells)
 Blood Supply and Circulation
 Renal artery
 Interlobar arteries
 Arcuate arteries
 Interlobar arteries
 Afferent arterioles
 Efferent arterioles
 Vasa recta
 Renal Calyces and Renal Pelvis
 The walls consist of mucosa (transitional
epithelium), muscularis (smooth muscle)
and adventitia.
 The adventitia blends into the adipose
tissue
 Ureters
 These carry
urine from the
renal pelvis to
the urinary
bladder.
 The mucosa
lining by
transitional
epithelial
 Urinary Bladder
 This distensible muscular sac, lined by
transitional epithelium, underline by
lamina propria
 Has wall that similar to ureter, pelvis and
calyces, but with thicker muscularis
 Involuntary internal sphincter.
BLADDER
 Urethra
 This differs in length, epithelium, and
function in males and females
 Male urethra: this conducts both urine
and seminal fluid.
o Prostatic portion
o Membranous portion
o Cavernous portion
 Female urethra: Shorter than the male
urethra, this carry only urine.