MICRO HSB

HISTOLOGY OF EXCRETORY SYSTEM

PEDRO E. AMPIL, MD, FPSA
26 FEBRUARY 2021

OUTLINE • Located at the medial border of the kidney is a

I. Objectives V. Male Urethra concave part called the hilum
II. Introduction VI. Female Urethra o Entry point of nerves
III. Parts of Nephron VII. Clinical Conditions o Exit point of ureter from kidneys
A. Renal Corpuscle A. Acute o Entry and exit point of blood vessels (renal
and Blood Filtration glomerulonephritis artery and veins) to and from the kidneys
B. Proximal B. Diabetes Mellitus • Renal sinus are spaces that contain the ff:
Convoluted Tubule C. Wilms Tumor o Renal artery
C. Distal Convoluted D. Kidney Stones o Renal veins
Tubule E. UTI o Adipose tissue
D. Loop of Henle VIII. References o Expanded upper part of ureter: Renal Pelvis
E. Juxtaglomerular ▪ Major calyx
Apparatus • Minor calyx
IV. Bladder and Urinary • Kidney has 2 main portions:
Passages o Inner: Medullary pyramids/Renal medulla
A. Ureter ▪ Includes 6-10 conical regions known as
B. Urinary Bladder renal pyramids
▪ Between the renal pyramids are inward
extensions of the cortex called columns of
Bertin
I. OBJECTIVES ▪ The apex of renal pyramids forms the renal
• Identify the parts of the excretory system and describe papillae that projects into the minor calyces
the role of each in the system’s functions ▪ The base of renal pyramids is continuous
• Identify and describe the main parts of the kidneys with the cortex, forming medullary rays,
• Describe the parts of a nephron which are extensions of the medulla into
the renal cortex
• Discuss the functions of the juxta-glomerular
apparatus and its component structures • Straight segments of the proximal and
distal tubules
• Name the structures forming the filtration barrier
• Straight segments of the collecting
• Identify the different layers of the following
tubules and ducts
o Ureter
o Urinary bladder • Thick and thin segments of the loops
o Main urethra of Henle
o Female urethra ▪ A renal lobe consists of 1 renal pyramid
together with a cortical tissue at its space
• Name some clinical conditions associated with the
and along its sides
urinary system
o Outer: Renal Cortex
▪ Contains the ff structures:
II. INTRODUCTION
• Renal corpuscle
• Bowman’s capsule
• Glomerulus
• Proximal & distal convoluted tubules
• Medullary rays
▪ Made of 1-1.4 million of subunits known as
nephrons
• Functional unit of kidneys
• Concerned with formation of urine
• Once urine is formed it will go to the
urinary passages (collecting tubules
and ducts)
• Parts of nephron:
o Renal corpuscle formed of a
glomerulus & bowman’s capsule
o Proximal convoluted tubule
o Thick and thin loops of Henle
o Distal convoluted tubule
• Types of nephron

Type Location Length

Contains short
CORTICAL Renal cortex
loops of Henle
HOEKSTRA Near cortico- Contains long
MEDULLARY medullary junction loops of Henle

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 III. PARTS OF NEPHRON o Mesangial cells together with surrounding
matrix form the mesangium
A. RENAL CORPUSCLE AND BLOOD FILTRATION
o Functions:
▪ Give physical support to glomerulus
▪ Involved with phagocytosis with
protein aggregates including
antibody-antigen complexes
▪ Involved with secretion of cytokines
and prostaglandins important for
immune response, immune
defense, and glomerular repair
▪ Involved with disposal of filtration
residues
▪ Participate in the continuous
turnover of basement membrane

B. PROXIMAL CONVOLUTED TUBULE

• Glomerulus and Bowman’s capsule

• Glomerulus is a capillary network (fenestrated tuft)
wherein blood that flows through undergoes filtration to
produce ultrafiltrate
• Bowman’s capsule has 2 layers
o Outer parietal lined by a single layer of
simple squamous cells
o Inner visceral layer closely embeds the
glomerulus form of modified cells called
podocytes
▪ Have large ovoid nuclei
▪ Contain several processes called primary
processes which give off secondary
processes called pedicels • Lined by large cuboidal cells with brush borders
o Between the parietal and visceral layers is o Brush borders are a type of microvilli that
space called glomerular/capsular space increase absorptive area of proximal tubules
containing glomerular filtrate • Nucleus is spherical in shape
• Contain 2 poles • Cytoplasm is eosinophilic (reddish/pinkish in color)
o Urinary/Tubular pole • Lumen is small and fuzzy/dirty in appearance because
▪ Where the ultrafiltrate exits Bowman’s of brush borders
space and a proximal convoluted tubule • Numerous
begins • Involved with absorption of about 60-65% water from
▪ Change in shape of cells from flattened into glomerular filtrate, absorption of glucose and AA, and
cuboidal hydroxylation of Vit. D
o Vascular pole
▪ Where the afferent and efferent arterioles C. DISTAL CONVOLUTED TUBULE
enter and exit the glomerulus
• Structures in filtration barrier:
o Pedicels
▪ Pedicels interdigitate with neighboring
pedicels to form filtration slits/slit pores,
which permit the plasma escaping from
glomerular capillaries to enter capsular
space
o Basal lamina is formed by the fusion of
basal lamina of capillary endothelium and
basal lamina of podocytes
▪ Has 3 structures under electron microscope
• Lamina rara externa – nearer the
podocytes
• Lamina densa – intermediate portion
containing type IV collage
• Lamina rara interna – closer to
capillary endothelium
o Endothelium of glomerular capillaries that are
of fenestrated type with holes • Lined by small cuboidal cells without brush borders
• Filtration barrier leads to the formation of glomerular • Lumen is larger/wider and clear because of absence of
filtrates, the product of glomerular filtration brush border
o Chemical composition is similar to blood • Less acidophilic
plasma, except that it contains very little • Less numerous because shorter
proteins
• Renal corpuscle also contains intra-glomerular
mesangial cells
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 DIFFERENCE IN HISTOLOGY OF THE TUBULES E. JUXTAGLOMERULAR APPARATUS
PCT DCT
Brush border + -
Height of cells Higher Lower
Size of lumen Smaller Larger
Cell borders obscure Clear

The JGA forms at the point of contact between a nephron’s distal tubule (D) and the vascular
pole of its glomerulus (G). At that point cells of the distal tubule become columnar as a
thickened region called the macula densa (MD). Smooth muscle cells of the afferent
arteriole’s (AA) tunica media are converted from a contractile to a secretory morphology as
juxtaglomerular cells (JG). Also present are lacis cells (L), which are extraglomerular
mesangial cells adjacent to the macula densa, the afferent arteriole, and the efferent arteriole
(EA). In this specimen the lumens of proximal tubules (P) appear filled and the urinary space
(US) is somewhat swollen.

• Autoregulation of glomerular filtration rate

• Regulation and control of blood pressure
• Components
o Macula densa
▪ Found in the wall of a distal
convoluted tubule at the vascular
pole
▪ The cells become columnar in
(a) The micrograph shows the continuity at a renal corpuscle’s tubular pole (TP) between the shape, forming a phallus-shaped
simple cuboidal epithelium of a proximal convoluted tubule (P) and the simple squamous layer of cells
epithelium of the capsule’s parietal layer. The urinary space (U) between the parietal layer
and the glomerulus (G) drains into the lumen of the proximal tubule. The lumens of the
▪ It has a fence-like appearance
proximal tubules appear filled, because of the long microvilli of the brush border and ▪ Nucleus of the cells are packed
aggregates of small plasma proteins bound to this structure. By contrast, the lumens of distal together
convoluted tubules (D) appear empty, lacking a brush border and protein.
▪ Serve as osmoreceptors
(b) Here the abundant peritubular capillaries and draining venules (arrows) that surround the ▪ Monitor sodium-ion concentrations
proximal (P) and distal (D) convoluted tubules are clearly seen.
o Juxtaglomerular cells
▪ Found in the walls of an afferent
D. LOOP OF HENLE arteriole
▪ Tunica media becomes
transformed into modified smooth
muscle cells known as JG cells
▪ Secrete a substance called renin
• Converts
angiotensinogen to
angiotensin I
• Angiotensin I become
angiotensin II, which is a
potent vasoconstrictor,
raising blood pressure
and stimulating renal
glands to secrete
aldosterone, w/c would
promote sodium and
water reabsorption in the
distal convoluted tubules
• Parts:
in the kidneys leading to
o Short thick descending segment
an increase in water
▪ Lined by cuboidal cells
volume, causing an
o Descending/ascending thin segments
increase in blood
▪ Lined by squamous cells
pressure
o Thick ascending segment
o Extraglomerular cells
▪ Found at an angle between afferent
• Pump sodium and chloride ions out of the lumen and efferent arterioles
• Reabsorption of about 5% water from glomerular ▪ Functions similar to intraglomerular
filtrate cells
• Production and formation of hypertonic urine
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 F. COLLECTING TUBULES AND DUCTS • Layers:
o Mucosa: Transitional epithelium
o Lamina propria: Fibro-elastic connective
tissue with blood vessels
o Tunica muscularis: Inner longitudinal muscle
layer, middle circular muscle layer, outer
longitudinal muscle layer
▪ Form detrusor muscle
o Tunica Serosa: Lining the superior part of the
urinary bladder
o Tunica Adventitia: Lining the inferior part of
the urinary bladder

• Collecting tubules are lined by cuboidal cells • Superficial layer of cells is

• Collecting ducts are lined by columnar cells known as umbrella cells,
• Contain two types of cells: dome-shaped in appearance
o Principal cells and serve to protect
▪ Pale-staining involved in ion underlying cells from
transport hypertonicity/toxicity of urine
o Intercalated cells
▪ Dark-staining scattered among the
principal cells and help regulate
acid-base balance V. THE MALE URETHRA

IV. BLADDER AND URINARY PASSAGES

URETER

• Serves as passage way of both urine and sperm cells

• Has 3 components
o Prostatic urethra – traversing the prostate
gland; lined by transitional epithelium
o Membranous – traversing urogenital
diaphragm; lined by pseudo/stratified
columnar epithelium
• Conducts urine into the urinary bladder o Penile/spongy – traversing corpus
• Layers spongiosium; lined by pseudo/stratified
o Mucosa: Transitional epithelium columnar epithelium
o Lamina propria: Fibro-elastic fibers
o Tunica muscularis: Inner longitudinal muscle VI. FEMALE URETHRA
layer, outer circular muscle layer
o Tunica Adventitia: Contain blood vessels and
nerves

URINARY BLADDER

• Shorter and straight

• Prone to UTI
• Lining epithelium: Stratified squamous non-keratinized
epithelium
• Involved with elimination of urine

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 VII. CLINICAL CONDITIONS • Kidney cancer
ACUTE GLOMERULONEPHRITIS • Primarily affects children
• At 3 y/o not all kidney cells would mature, and would
cluster into a mass that would grow out of control,
leading to formation of tumor in kidney
• Causes
o Genetic mutations
o Drugs
o Chemicals
o Infectious agents
• S&S
o Presence of abdominal mass
o Abdominal pain
o Fever
o Blood in urine
o Uneven increase in growth of one side of the
body
• Involves immunologic mechanism w/c trigger o Nausea
inflammation and proliferation of glomerular tissue that o Constipation
can result to damage to basement membrane/capillary o Shortness of breath
endothelium o Hypertension
• Usual cause: Post-streptococcal infections
• S&S NEPHROLITHIASIS / KIDNEY STONES
o Hematuria
o Proteinuria
o Hypertension due to reduced kidney function
o Fluid retention/edema, swelling evident in
face, hands, and feet

DIABETES MELLITUS

• Small deposits that build up in the kidney

• Usually made of calcium phosphates and other
components
• S&S
o Unilateral/bilateral plank pains
o Spasm-like pain
• Increase in blood sugar levels
o Radiating into the pelvis/genitals
• Two types
o Nausea
o Type 1
o Dysuria
▪ Most common in any age
o Frequency in urination
▪ Absence of insulin
o Nocturia
o Type 2
o Urinary hesitancy
▪ Adult onset
o Fever and chills
▪ Pancreas makes insulin but is
either not enough or does not work
out properly URINARY TRACT INFECTION
• S&S:
o Polyuria
o Increased thirst/hunger
o Weight loss/gain
o Easy fatiguability
o Blurred vision
o Wounds heal slowly
o Skin infection • Common in women
• S&S
WILMS TUMOR/NEPHROBLASTEMA o Strong persistent urge to urinate even though
there’s little urine/empty bladder
o Burning sensation after peeing
o Dark-colored or bloody urine
o Fever/chills
o Back pain/lower abdominal pains

VIII. REFERENCES
• Dr. Ampil’s PPT
• Junquiera’s Basic Histology 13th Ed
• Histology Guide: Virtual Microscopy Laboratory

Philippians 4:13

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