Question

Explain the role of the vasa recta in maintaining the medullary interstitial concentration gradient

Answer 1

Vasa Recta Function

The ability of the vasa recta to maintain the medullary interstitial gradient is flow dependent. A substantial increase in vasa recta blood flow dissipates the medullary gradient. Alternatively, decreased blood flow reduces oxygen delivery to the nephron segments within the medulla.

What is countercurrent multiplication?

Your kidneys have a remarkable mechanism for reabsorbing water from the tubular fluid, called countercurrent multiplication.

Countercurrent multiplication in the kidneys is the process of using energy to generate an osmotic gradient that enables you to reabsorb water from the tubular fluid and produce concentrated urine. This mechanism prevents you from producing litres and litres of dilute urine every day, and is the reason why you don’t need to be continually drinking in order to stay hydrated.

Where does it happen?

The kidneys contain two types of nephrons, superficial cortical nephrons (70-80%) and juxtamedullary nephrons (20-30%). These names refer to the location of the glomerular capsule, which is either in the outer cortex of the kidney, or near the corticomedullary border. Nephrons can be thought of in sections, each with a different structure and function. These are the glomerulus, the proximal tubule, the loop of Henle, the distal tubule, and the collecting duct. The loop of Henle is a hairpin-like structure comprised of a thin descending limb, a thin ascending limb and a thick ascending limb. While the loops of Henle of cortical nephrons penetrate only as far as the outer medulla of the kidney, those of the juxtamedullary nephrons penetrate deeply within the inner medulla.

Although both cortical and juxtamedullary nephrons regulate the concentrations of solutes and water in the blood, countercurrent multiplication in the loops of Henle of juxtamedullary nephrons is largely responsible for developing the osmotic gradients that are needed to concentrate urine. Fluid leaving the ascending limb of the loop of Henle enters the distal convoluted tubule, where its composition is further adjusted, and then drains into collecting tubules. These tubules empty into collecting ducts that descend back through the medulla, and eventually connect to the ureter, which transports urine to the bladder.

Although the loops of Henle are essential for concentrating urine, they do not work alone. The specialized blood capillary network (the vasa recta) that surrounds the loops are equally important. The vasa recta capillaries are long, hairpin-shaped blood vessels that run parallel to the loops of Henle. The hairpin turns slow the rate of blood flow, which helps maintain the osmotic gradient required for water reabsorption.

How does countercurrent multiplication work?

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. As active reabsorption of solutes from the ascending limb of the loop of Henle increases the concentration of solutes within the interstitial space (space between cells), water and solutes move down their concentration gradients until their concentrations within the descending tubule and the interstitial space have equilibrated. As such, water moves out of the tubular fluid and solutes to move in. This means, the tubular fluid becomes steadily more concentrated or hyperosmotic (compared to blood) as it travels down the thin descending limb of the tubule.

The thin ascending limb is passively permeable to small solutes, but impermeable to water, which means water cannot escape from this part of the loop. As a result, solutes move out of the tubular fluid, but water is retained and the tubular fluid becomes steadily more dilute or hyposmotic as it moves up the ascending limb of the tubule.

The thick ascending limb actively reabsorbs sodium, potassium and chloride. this segment is also impermeable to water, which again means that water cannot escape from this part of the loop. This segment is sometimes called the “diluting segment”.

Countercurrent multiplication moves sodium chloride from the tubular fluid into the interstitial space deep within the kidneys. Although in reality it is a continual process, the way the countercurrent multiplication process builds up an osmotic gradient in the interstitial fluid can be thought of in two steps:

The single effect. The single effect is driven by active transport of sodium chloride out of the tubular fluid in the thick ascending limb into the interstitial fluid, which becomes hyperosmotic. As a result, water moves passively down its concentration gradient out of the tubular fluid in the descending limb into the interstitial space, until it reaches equilibrium.

Fluid flow. As urine is continually being produced, new tubular fluid enters the descending limb, which pushes the fluid at higher osmolarity down the tube and an osmotic gradient begins to develop.

As the fluid continues to move through the loop of Henle, these two steps are repeated over and over, causing the osmotic gradient to steadily multiply until it reaches a steady state. The length of the loop of Henle determines the size of the gradient - the longer the loop, the greater the osmotic gradient.