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Loop of Henle

I don't understand the purpose of the Loop of Henle in the Kidneys. Is it basically there to remove a majority of the water and salts from being excreted?
Original post by LennyBicknel
I don't understand the purpose of the Loop of Henle in the Kidneys. Is it basically there to remove a majority of the water and salts from being excreted?


basically removal of majority of water occurs in proximal convulated tubule however, loop of henle has the main role to reabsorb some water by pumping salts against concentration gradiant into tissue fluid. if tissue fluid has low water potential before pumping occurs, a lot of water will be reabsorbed. however, if there is a high water potential in tissue fluid even when ions are pumped, only a small quantity of water will be reabsorbed.
Original post by Chaotic_Kal
basically removal of majority of water occurs in proximal convulated tubule however, loop of henle has the main role to reabsorb some water by pumping salts against concentration gradiant into tissue fluid. if tissue fluid has low water potential before pumping occurs, a lot of water will be reabsorbed. however, if there is a high water potential in tissue fluid even when ions are pumped, only a small quantity of water will be reabsorbed.


So it basically assists in regulating water levels? But I thought that was the job of the distal convoluted tubule and the collecting duct? D:
Original post by LennyBicknel
So it basically assists in regulating water levels? But I thought that was the job of the distal convoluted tubule and the collecting duct? D:

they all share the same role
This isn't the point of the loop of Henlé. You need to look up the countercurrent multiplier and how this allows the urine to be concentrated.
(edited 7 years ago)
The loop of Henle is responsible for making the water potential of the kidney increasingly negative as you descend into the medulla.
That's its main role, which involves reabsorbing water in the descending limb and actively pumping out NaCl in the ascending limb. This then makes the tissues surrounding the collecting duct more negative than the inside so water moves out by osmosis. That wouldn't be possible if the kidney had a constant water potential.
EDIT:
I can see you're still a bit confused so let me try to lay it out simply for you :-)
The role of the entire kidney is to filter the blood and remove waste of metabolic processes through excretion.
The role of the Bowman's capsule and glomerulus is ultrafiltration.
The role of the PCT is to selectively reabsorb glucose, water and amino acids.
The role of the LOH I described above.
The role of the DCT is not covered in my OCR spec, but it basically regulates the conc. of ions.
The role of the collecting duct is to transport the urine to the bladder.
Bear in mind, these are MAIN roles, and many other specific processes occur that you'll need to explain in an exam. Hope this helps!!
(edited 7 years ago)

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