Everything about Vasa Recta totally explained
» For the intestinal structure, see Vasa recta (intestines)
In the
blood supply of the kidney, the
vasa recta renis (or
straight arteries of kidney, or
straight arterioles of kidney) form a series of straight capillaries (
recta is from the
Latin for "straight") that descend from the
cortex into the
medulla.
These vessels branch off the
efferent arterioles of
juxtamedullary nephrons (those
nephrons closest to the medulla), enter the medulla, and surround the
loop of Henle.
Histology
On a slide, vasa recta can be distinguished from the tubules of the
loop of Henle by the presence of blood.
Function
Each of the vasa recta has a hairpin turn in the medulla and carries blood at a very slow rate, two factors crucial in the maintenance of
countercurrent exchange that prevent washout of the concentration gradients established in the renal medulla.
The maintenance of this concentration gradient is one of the components responsible for the kidney's ability to produce concentrated
urine.
On the descending portion of the vasa recta, NaCl and urea are reabsorbed into the blood, while water is secreted. On the ascending portion of the vasa recta, NaCl and urea are secreted into the interstitium, while water is reabsorbed.
Nomenclature
According to
Terminologia Anatomica, the term "vasa recta renis" is an alternate name for "arteriolae rectae renis", and a separate term,
venulae rectae renis, is used to identify the venous portion.
However, other sources consider "vasa recta renis" to refer to both the arterial and venous portions.
The "renis" is often omitted, but there do exist two other structures with the same name:
Pathology
The slow blood flow in vasa recta makes them a likely place of
thrombosis in hypercoagulable states, or erythrocyte sickling in
sickle cell disease.
Ischemia that results may lead to
renal papillary necrosis.
Further Information
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