T11: Kidney toxicity

8 important questions on T11: Kidney toxicity

What is the glomerulus and the nephron?

This is the beginning of the kidney, here the blood is filterd. Al the electrolites and other compounds are filterd out of it. Only sugar and other proteins stay in it. The bloodvessel has bigger gaps so that everything can come out. Bloodpressure is quit high in the kidney to push everything out.

What is the proximal tubule?

This comes after the glumurus and nephron. Here the reabsorption bigins and there is active transport. 60-80% of the water and minerals (Na+, K+, HCO-, Cl-, PO4-, Ca2+) are taken back up. Also amino acids, glucose and sma proteins are reabsorped.

Passsive transport/ osmosis will maintain the water and solute balance.

Which of these processes are more at risk?

The active processes are most likely to be effected. Interaction take place, and also they need energy wich makes them more vulnarable than passive processes.
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Toxic effects of chemicals on the kidney

The kidney is extra susceptible to toxic injury because non- toxic concentration in plasma may reach toxic concentration in the kidney

What is the distal tubule?

This is the last part of the kidney after the loop of henle. Here the Tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF) hormone is active. It checkse the urine and pre-urine and the blood to see if everything is okee, this is forwarded to the rest of the kidney. This can result in extra metabolite reabsorption or more osmosis.

What are renal failures?

If a part of the glomurus is blocked, the bloodpressure will lower and therefor the filtration will not be optimal and this will affect the cleaning of the blood.

Also if some of the tubulus are leaky, the uptake will be less effective. This can also affect the kidney because of back-leaking.

These acute failures can result in e.g. Necrosis. This may attrack immunecells and the whole kidney is affected.

This is all acute renal failure.

How can you detect where the renal failure is?

If you test the urine and there are large proteins in it, you know that there goes something wrong with the filtration. Especially creatinine is measured, because that is a stable big protein.

Why are heavy metals toxic for the kidneys?

Cadmium, chromiun, lead, mercury, platinum, uraniom.
The heavy metals can bind to SH groups of cellular macromolecules.

The elementary mercury is important for the kidneys, the charged for is more dangerous for the neurons.
Cadmium has a halflife of 10 years, that is why it is accumulating in the kidneys.

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