The thin descending loop is highly permeable to water (which is easily transferred to the interstitium) and less permeable to solutes. On the other hand, the thin ascending limb is highly permeable to sodium but impermeable to water.
Similarly one may ask, what is the difference between ascending and descending loop of Henle?
The thin descending limb has low permeability to ions and urea, while being highly permeable to water. The loop has a sharp bend in the renal medulla going from descending to ascending thin limb. The thick ascending limb is impermeable to water, but it is permeable to ions.
Subsequently, question is, why is the ascending loop of Henle thick? Thick ascending limb The medullary ascending limb is largely impermeable to water. Sodium (Na+), potassium (K+) and chloride (Cl−) ions are reabsorbed by active transport. This K+ “leak” generates a positive electrochemical potential difference in the lumen.
Just so, what is the function of the descending loop of Henle?
This part of the nephron is called the loop of Henle. Its main function is to reabsorb water and sodium chloride from the filtrate. This conserves water for the organism, producing highly concentrated urine.
What happens to sodium and chloride in the ascending limb of the nephron loop?
The ascending limb (where loop diuretics work) is impermeable to water. NaCl is pumped from the tubule into the interstitium in the ascending limb. The tubular osmolarity decreases and fluid that leaves the loop is hypotonic. The collecting duct is impermeable to water without ADH.
14 Related Question Answers Found
Where is the loop of Henle located?
Answer and Explanation: The loop of Henle is located in the medulla of the kidneys, it is the next step in the renal tubule process after the proximal tubule.
What occurs in the loop of Henle?
Loop of Henle. Loop of Henle, long, U-shaped portion of the tubule that conducts urine within each nephron (q.v.) of the kidney of reptiles, birds, and mammals. The principal function of the loop of Henle appears to be the recovery of water and sodium chloride from the urine.
What happens to water in the loop of Henle?
In summary, the loop of Henle is surrounded by tissue fluid which has a high concentration of ions in it. This causes water to move out of the descending limb by osmosis. Because of this concentration gradient ions move into the loop in the thin ascending limb.
How does the loop of Henle help to conserve water?
Renal conservation of water. The kidney conserves water by first diluting urine as it moves through the loop of Henle and then concentrating urine in the distal tubules and collecting ducts (the latter under the influence of antidiuretic hormone or ADH).
What is reabsorbed in the collecting duct?
The collecting duct system is the final component of the kidney to influence the body’s electrolyte and fluid balance. In humans, the system accounts for 4–5% of the kidney’s reabsorption of sodium and 5% of the kidney’s reabsorption of water.
Are there aquaporins in the descending loop of Henle?
Aquaporin-1 is not expressed in descending thin limbs of short-loop nephrons. In mammalian kidneys, aquaporin-1 is responsible for water reabsorption along the proximal tubule and is also thought to be involved in the concentration of urine that occurs in the medulla.
What is the function of distal convoluted tubule?
Once the filtrate passes through the thick ascending limb of Henle, it enters the distal convoluted tubule, which is a duct of the renal tubule located in the kidney’s cortex that reabsorbs calcium, sodium, and chloride and regulates the pH of urine by secreting protons and absorbing bicarbonate.
How does the loop of Henle create a concentration gradient?
The Loop of Henle serves to create a concentration gradient throughout the nephron which helps increase the reabsorption of water and certain ions. This creates a gradient to draw more water back into circulation from the thin descending limb. Approximately 25 percent of filtered sodium will be absorbed here.
What is the main function of the descending loop of Henle quizlet?
The major function is to control the rate of water and solute excretion and match these rates to fluid and electrolyte balance.
What happens in the descending limb?
Thin Ascending Limb As the thick ascending limb is impermeable to water, the interstitium becomes concentrated with ions, increasing the osmolarity. This drives water reabsorption from the descending limb as water moves from areas of low osmolarity to areas of high osmolarity.
What is the descending limb?
Anatomical terminology. Within the nephron of the kidney, the descending limb of loop of Henle is the portion of the renal tubule constituting the first part of the loop of Henle.
What is the main substance that moves out of the descending loop of Henle?
The three segments of the loops of Henle have different characteristics that enable countercurrent multiplication. The thin descending limb is passively permeable to both water and small solutes such as sodium chloride and urea.
Where is water reabsorbed in the nephron?
The first part of the nephron that is responsible for water reabsorption is the proximal convoluted tubule. Filtered fluid enters the proximal tubule from Bowman’s capsule. Many substances that the body needs, which may have been filtered out of the blood at the glomerulus, are reabsorbed into the body in this segment.
What does the proximal convoluted tubule do?
The proximal tubule efficiently regulates the pH of the filtrate by exchanging hydrogen ions in the interstitium for bicarbonate ions in the filtrate; it is also responsible for secreting organic acids, such as creatinine and other bases, into the filtrate.