Renal physiology

Renal physiology is the study of the physiology of the kidneys.

Additional recommended knowledge

Daily Visual Balance Check

Weighing the right way

Essential Laboratory Skills Guide

Functions of the kidney

The functions of the kidney can be divided into two groups: secretion of hormones, and extracellular homeostasis.

Secretion of hormones

• Secretion of erythropoietin, which regulates red blood cell production in the bone marrow.
• Secretion of renin, which is a key part of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.
• Secretion of the active form of vitamin D, calcitriol, and prostaglandins.

Extracellular homeostasis

The kidney is responsible for maintaining a balance of several substances:

The body is very sensitive to its pH level. Outside the range of pH that is compatible with life, proteins are denatured and digested, enzymes lose their ability to function, and the body is unable to sustain itself. The kidneys maintain acid-base homeostasis by regulating the pH of the blood plasma. Gains and losses of acid and base must be balanced. Acids are divided into "volatile acids"^[13] and "nonvolatile acids".^[14] See also titratable acid.

The major homeostatic control point for maintaining this stable balance is renal excretion. The kidney is directed to excrete or retain sodium via the action of aldosterone, antidiuretic hormone (ADH, or vasopressin), atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), and other hormones. Abnormal ranges of the fractional excretion of sodium can imply acute tubular necrosis or glomerular dysfunction.

Mechanisms

The kidney's ability to perform many of its functions depends on the three fundamental functions of filtration, reabsorption, and secretion.

Filtration

Main article: Renal ultrafiltration

The blood is filtered by nephrons, the functional units of the kidney. Each nephron begins in a renal corpuscle, which is composed of a glomerulus enclosed in a Bowman's capsule. Cells, proteins, and other large molecules are filtered out of the glomerulus by a process of ultrafiltration, leaving an ultrafiltrate that resembles plasma (except that the ultrafiltrate has negligible plasma proteins) to enter Bowman's space. Filtration is driven by Starling forces.

The ultrafiltrate is passed through, in turn, the proximal tubule, the loop of Henle, the distal convoluted tubule, and a series of collecting ducts to form urine.

Reabsorption

Tubular reabsorption is the process by which solutes and water are removed from the tubular fluid and transported into the blood. It is called reabsorption (and not absorption) because these substances have already been absorbed once (particularly in the intestines).

Reabsorption is a two-step process beginning with the active or passive extraction of substances from the tubule fluid into the renal interstitium (the connective tissue that surrounds the nephrons), and then the transport of these substances from the interstitium into the bloodstream. These transport processes are driven by Starling forces, diffusion, and active transport.

Renal plasma threshold

The renal plasma threshold is the minimum plasma concentration of a substance that results in the excretion of that substance in the urine.

For example, the renal plasma threshold for glucose is 180 to 200 mg per 100 ml. Glycosuria (sugar in urine) results when the plasma glucose concentration reaches and exceeds the renal plasma threshold of glucose. When the plasma glucose concentration is very high, the filtered glucose can saturate the carriers and reach the transport maximum of that molecule. Any amount past the transport maximum will continue through the renal tubules and be excreted in the urine.

Indirect reabsorption

In some cases, reabsorption is indirect. For example, bicarbonate (HCO₃^-) does not have a transporter, so its reabsorption involves a series of reactions in the tubule lumen and tubular epithelium. It begins with the active secretion of a hydrogen ion (H⁺) into the tubule fluid via a Na/H exchanger:

• In the lumen
  • The H⁺ combines with HCO₃^- to form carbonic acid (H₂CO₃)
  • Luminal carbonic anhydrase enzymatically converts H₂CO₃ into H₂O and CO₂
  • CO₂ freely diffuses into the cell
• In the epithelial cell
  • Cytoplasmic carbonic anhydrase converts the CO₂ and H₂O (which is abundant in the cell) into H₂CO₃
  • H₂CO₃ readily dissociates into H⁺ and HCO₃^-
  • HCO₃^- is facilitated out of the cell's basolateral membrane

Hormones

Some key regulatory hormones for reabsorption include:

• aldosterone, which stimulates active sodium reabsorption
• antidiuretic hormone, which stimulates passive water reabsorption

Both hormones exert their effects principally on the collecting ducts.

Secretion

Main article: Clearance (medicine)

Tubular secretion is the transfer of materials from peritubular capillaries to renal tubular lumen. Tubular secretion is caused mainly by active transport.

Usually only a few substances are secreted. These substances are present in great excess, or are natural poisons.

Many drugs are eliminated by tubular secretion. Further reading: Table of medication secreted in kidney

Measurement of renal function

Main article: Renal function

A simple means of estimating renal function is to measure pH, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and basic electrolytes (including sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate). As the kidney is the most important organ in controlling these values, any derangement in these values could suggest renal impairment.

There are several more formal tests and ratios involved in estimating renal function:

Measurement	Calculation	Details
renal plasma flow	[15]	Volume of blood plasma delivered to the kidney per unit time. PAH clearance is a renal analysis method used to provide an estimate.
renal blood flow	(HCT is hematocrit)	Volume of blood delivered to the kidney per unit time. In humans, the kidneys together receive roughly 20% of cardiac output, amounting to 1 L/min in a 70-kg adult male.
glomerular filtration rate	GFR = Kf([Pc − Pi] − σ[πc − πi]) (estimation using Starling equation)	Volume of fluid filtered from the renal glomerular capillaries into the Bowman's capsule per unit time. Estimated using inulin. Usually a creatinine clearance test is performed but other markers, such as the plant polysaccharide inulin or radiolabelled EDTA, may be used as well.
filtration fraction	[16]	Measures efficiency of reabsorption.
anion gap	AG = [Na+] - ([Cl-] + [HCO3-])	Cations minus anions. Excludes K+ (usually), Ca2+, H2PO4-. Aids in the differential diagnosis of metabolic acidosis
Clearance (other than water)	where U = concentration, V =urine volume / time, U*V = urinary excretion, and P = plasma concentration [17]	Rate of removal
free water clearance	C = V − Cosm or [18][19]	The volume of blood plasma that is cleared of solute-free water per unit time.
Net acid excretion		Net amount of acid excreted in the urine per unit time

References