Research and Prepare an Analysis Paper of the Kidney (Essay Sample)

An analysis of the Kidney
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InstitutionKidneys are bean-shaped body organs located at the back of the abdomen in retroperitoneal space and play significant roles in vertebrates. Every kidney is approximately 4 or 5 inches in length. The kidneys play the role of sifting the blood. The kidney eliminates body wastes, keeps the body fluids in balance and controls the electrolytes in the body. While cleaning the blood, kidneys accumulate urine which masses in the pelvis, which is funnel-shaped and then drains the urine to the bladder through the ureter. Each kidney comprises of millions of nephrons where each is a blood filtering unit
Kidneys are vital organs in the human body and are essential for human survival. They perform one of the body’s homeostatic functions by keeping a balance of acid and bases in the body, eliminating water-soluble substances. While excreting urine, they eliminate nitrogenous waste, ammonia, and urea which would be toxic and harmful to the body if left to accumulate. They ensure glucose and amino acids reabsorption into the body and secrete calcitriol and erythropoietin hormones and renin enzyme which is vital for the negative feedback.
Most of the functions are achieved through reabsorbing and secretion taking place in the nephron. Every kidney is supported by a connective tissue namely the renal fascia. It is enclosed by a thick deposit of adipose tissue known as the perineal fat which offers protection. The connective tissue which is fibrous and tough attaches the kidney and protects the soft tissue internally.
The kidney has unique cell types, they are the parietal cell in the glomerulus, the podocyte in the glomerulus, brush border in the proximal tubule cell, segment cell located in the loop of Henle, limb cell, the kidney tubule cell, the accumulating duct principal cell and the intercalated cell. The brush border cell is densely packed with microvilli. More so, the cell has mitochondria in its cytoplasm for energy required for active transport of the sodium ions.
The major kidney structures are the renal corpuscles which sift the blood and the medium of passage for the urine and blood. In the renal corpuscle, are the parietal cells, mesangial cells, and podocytes. Tubules comprise of columnar and cuboid shaped epithelial cells. Mesangial form mesangium which is a thin layer holding the capillary loops in the glomerulus. Moreover, Podocytes resemble a hairy creature with huge appendages known as foot processes. They perform an important function in the glomerular. Combined with endothelial cells and glomerular membrane, they merge to form a barrier to filtration. Podocytes work together with the mesangial cells to support the glomerulus. They are highly differentiated cells adapted to their functions with phenotypic characteristics.
The different cell types in the kidney are vital in the performance of the overall function. The nephron is the kidney’s functional unit with almost two million of them in the body. They ascend from the cortex way down to medulla then back to the former directed into the collecting duct which descends to the renal pelvis emptying the urine to the ureter. A nephron is made up of the renal corpuscle, loop of Henle, distal and proximal convoluted tubule.
The renal corpuscle filters plasma and is composed of glomerulus and Bowman's capsule. The Bowman capsule is made up of a layer touching the glomerulus with highly specialized epithelial cells, the podocytes. It is also formed of the parietal layer made up of epithelial cells and contacts the epithelium of the proximal convoluted tubule (Mount et al., 2006). The Bowman's space is found between the two layers and contains the plasma ultrafiltrate. The plasma passes through the podocyte layer, capillary endothelium before getting to this space. Mesangial cells are located within the glomerulus, and they produce a membrane matrix like that supports the glomerulus. The first segment of the loop of Henle is the proximal convoluted tubule which starts at the glomerulus; this is the region where reabsorption of the glomerular filtrate occurs. The longwinded section of the tubule descends to the medulla to form the loop of Henle. The loop of Henle makes a hair like structure dipping down to the medulla and contains four segments: pars recta, thin descending, thick ascending and thin ascending libs. The tip of ...