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The vasa recta of the kidney, (vasa recta renis) are the straight arterioles, and the straight venules of the kidney, – a series of blood vessels in the blood supply of the kidney that enter the medulla as the straight arterioles, and leave the medulla to ascend to the cortex as the straight venules.
The descending vasa recta, ascending vasa recta vessels, and the loop of Henle together form the countercurrent system of the kidney. In the afferent arteriole, blood is supplied at high pressure, which promotes filtration, and in the efferent arteriole, it is at low pressure, which promotes reabsorption .
The loop of Henle is supplied by blood in a series of straight capillaries descending from the cortical efferent arterioles. These capillaries (called the vasa recta; recta is from the Latin for "straight") also have a countercurrent multiplier mechanism that prevents washout of solutes from the medulla, thereby maintaining the medullary ...
The thick descending limb is less important than the thin descending limb, so often the terms "descending limb" and "thin descending limb" are used interchangeably. Some sources simply refer to a "thin limb". In this context, the thin ascending limb of loop of Henle would be included.
The descending limb of the loop of Henle is permeable to water but impermeable to solutes, due to the presence of aquaporin 1 in its tubular wall. Thus, water moves across the tubular wall into the medullary space, making the filtrate hypertonic (with a lower water potential). This is the filtrate that continues to the ascending limb. [2]
The renal circulation supplies the blood to the kidneys via the renal arteries, left and right, which branch directly from the abdominal aorta.Despite their relatively small size, the kidneys receive approximately 20% of the cardiac output.
The blood exiting the efferent arterioles of these nephrons enter the vasa recta, which are straight capillary branches that deliver blood to the renal medulla. These vasa recta run adjacent to the descending and ascending loop of Henle and participate in the maintenance of the medullary countercurrent exchange system.
When renal blood flow is reduced (indicating hypotension) or there is a decrease in sodium or chloride ion concentration, the macula densa of the distal tubule releases prostaglandins (mainly PGI2 and PGE2) and nitric oxide, which cause the juxtaglomerular cells lining the afferent arterioles to release renin, activating the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system, to increase blood pressure ...