AJP - Regu AJP: Renal Physiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 271: R157-R179, 1996;
0363-6119/96 $5.00
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Beuchat, C. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Beuchat, C. A.

AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 271, Issue 1 157-R179, Copyright © 1996 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Structure and concentrating ability of the mammalian kidney: correlations with habitat

C. A. Beuchat
Department of Biology, San Diego State University, California 92182-4614, USA. cbeuchat@sunstroke.sdsu.edu

Mammals with relatively long loops of Henle for their body size tend to have greater than average urinary concentrating ability, but the relationship between urine osmolality (Uosm) and absolute length of the loop of Henle (generally estimated as medullary thickness) is neither proportional nor direct. Uosm is independent of the thickness of the outer medulla (corresponding to the length of the medullary thick ascending limb), which scales similarly with body mass in animals from mesic, arid, and freshwater environments. After adjustment for the effect of body size, there is a significant relationship between the thickness of the inner medulla (corresponding to length of the thin ascending limb) and concentrating ability, but only in species from mesic environments; for these, the thickness of the inner medulla accounts for only 16% of the interspecific variability in Uosm. In marine mammals, both the cortex and medulla are surprisingly thin, yet these animals produce very concentrated urine for their size. A functional dependence of urinary concentrating ability on the length of the loop of Henle is a central tenet of countercurrent multiplier theory, but the correlation of maximum urine concentration with loop length is weak at best and largely reflects the influence of the thin ascending limb.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol.Home page
A. T. Layton and H. E. Layton
A region-based mathematical model of the urine concentrating mechanism in the rat outer medulla. II. Parameter sensitivity and tubular inhomogeneity
Am J Physiol Renal Physiol, December 1, 2005; 289(6): F1367 - F1381.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol.Home page
A. T. Layton, T. L. Pannabecker, W. H. Dantzler, and H. E. Layton
Two modes for concentrating urine in rat inner medulla
Am J Physiol Renal Physiol, October 1, 2004; 287(4): F816 - F839.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol.Home page
M. G. Janech, R. Chen, J. Klein, M. W. Nowak, W. McFee, R. V. Paul, W. R. Fitzgibbon, and D. W. Ploth
Molecular and functional characterization of a urea transporter from the kidney of a short-finned pilot whale
Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, May 1, 2002; 282(5): R1490 - R1500.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Visit Other APS Journals Online