Question

What would the physiological consequences be If the blood within the vasa recta flowed from the cortex to the medulla and then left the kidney without flowing back toward the cortex?

Please use complete sentences, and know that this is involving the urinary system. Please list all possible consequences and include why this would be detrimental or what the symptoms would be.

Answer 1

If the blood from the vasa recta flowed from the cortex to medulla and then left the kidney without flowing back to the cortex then the osmolarity of the medullary interstitium is destroyed.Normally the medullary interstitium is at higher osmolarity that is 1200 milliosmol/lit and the cortex is at 300milliosmol/lit.This is maintained due to the counter current mechanism of vasa recta and loop of Henley.This concentration gradient is necessary for the formation of concentrated urine So if blood does not flow back to cortex in the vasa recta, concentration gradient is not obtained and the concentrated urine is not formed..