2.70 Nephron Structure

2.70 Describe the structure of a nephron, to include Browman's capsule and glomerulus, convoluted tubules, loop of Henle and collecting duct.

- The Nephron is the functional unit of the kidney which does the filtering and the controlling of the composition of blood.

- Blood in the Aorta goes into the kidney via the Renal Artery, and the waste to be excreted is sent down the Ureter and the clean; now filtered blood, goes back to the bloodstream via the Renal Vein which then leads it to the Vena Carva.

- If we slice through the kidney we see different coloured regions. The outer lighter region is the Cortex. The inner darker region is the Medulla. And the very inside lighter coloured space; which is a space, and is known as the pelvic region. This is where the urine collects and drains down the Ureter.

- The reason for the different colours is because the kidney is made up of millions of tubes. This can be seen in the diagram.

- The dead end of the tube which dips in and out of the Cortex and Medulla is called the Bowman's Capsule. This tube is called the Nephron, which we will now look at in more detail.

- The diagram shows the Nephron close up. The part above the dotted line is the Cortex, and below the dotted line is the Medulla

- At the end of the tube in the diagram is in fact the pelvic region, the end of this tube is where the urine emerges.

- The tube is made up of twisted sections, these parts which are in the Cortex are known as the Convoluted Tubules. And the long tube heading towards the pelvic region in the Medulla is called the Collecting Duct (A Duct is a tube).

- The dip inbetween the two Convoluted Tubules which is in the Medulla part of the Kidney is called the Loop of Henle.

- And then the dead end structure is called the Bowman's Capsule. In the diagram you can see the blood vessels tightly noting around it. These are called the Glomerulus.

The Whole structure starts at the Bowman's capsule ---> Proximal Convoluted Tubules (PCT) ---> Loop of Henle --->  Distal Convoluted Tubules (DCT) ---> Collecting Duct ---> Pelvic Region.

- It is the arrangement of this Nephron Structure which gives the Kidney the different colours on the cross section diagram.