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The collecting duct system of the kidney consists of a series of tubules and ducts that physically connect nephrons to a minor calyx or directly to the renal pelvis.The collecting duct participates in electrolyte and fluid balance through reabsorption and excretion, processes regulated by the hormones aldosterone and vasopressin (antidiuretic hormone).
The collecting duct system begins in the renal cortex and extends deep into the medulla. As the urine travels down the collecting duct system, it passes by the medullary interstitium which has a high sodium concentration as a result of the loop of Henle's countercurrent multiplier system. [1]: 67
The formation of urine begins within the functional unit of the kidney, the nephrons. Urine then flows through the nephrons, through a system of converging tubules called collecting ducts. These collecting ducts then join together to form the minor calyces, followed by the major calyces that ultimately join the renal pelvis. From here, urine ...
To achieve such balance between water and ions, the loop of Henle coordinates its function with the collecting duct to regulate the amount of water to reabsorb or to excrete. While the loop of Henle makes the medulla of the kidney salty, the collecting duct regulates the permeability of water that could be reabsorbed to such salty environment.
The renal corpuscle is a blood-filtering part of the nephron and is located in the cortex. The renal tubule extends from the renal corpuscle to the medulla into the loop of Henle and then returns back to the cortex. Finally, the renal tubule flows with its distal end into its collecting duct, which is common to several nephrons.
The DCT is lined with simple cuboidal cells, the distal convoluted tubule cells, that are shorter than those of the proximal convoluted tubule (PCT). The lumen appears larger in the PCT than the DCT lumen because the PCT has a brush border (microvilli).
A cortical lobule (or renal lobule) is a part of a renal lobe. It consists of the nephrons grouped around a single medullary ray , and draining into a single collecting duct . Its near identical parallel is the rectal lobe [ citation needed ] , which is present in the majority of mammals.
The metanephrogenic blastema or metanephric blastema (or metanephric mesenchyme, or metanephric mesoderm) is one of the two embryological structures that give rise to the kidney, the other being the ureteric bud. The metanephric blastema mostly develops into nephrons, but can also form parts of the collecting duct system.