Question

Draw the labelled diagram of a nephron.

Answer 1

Nephron:

1. The structural and operational unit of the kidney is the nephron.
2. Each nephron consists of two parts - a renal corpuscle, and a renal tubule.
3. The renal tubule consists of a proximal convoluted tubule, loop of Henle, and distal tubule.
4. The distal tubule of several nephrons empties into a single collecting duct.

Renal corpuscle:

1. A renal corpuscle has two components-the glomerulus and the Bowman's capsule.
2. The Bowman's capsule is a double-walled epithelial cup that en loses the glomerulus.
3. Blood plasma is filtered in the glomerular capsule, and then the filtered fluid passes into the renal tubule.

Proximal convoluted tubule:

1. It is a densely coiled network.
2. Reabsorption of vital chemicals like glucose, proteins, amino acids, a significant amount of electrolytes, and water occurs here.

Loop of Henle:

1. A descending and an ascending limb make up Henle's loop.
2. The descending limb is impervious to an electrolyte but porous to water.
3. While impervious to water, the ascending limb is permeable to electrolytes.

Distal convoluted tubule:

1. A further tightly wound tubular part is the distal convoluted tubule (DCT).
2. While reabsorbing the ${\mathrm{HCO}}_3$ from the filtrate, DCT secretes ions such as hydrogen, potassium, and ammonia into the filtrate.
3. In DCT, water and sodium ions are reabsorbed under certain conditions. As a result, it keeps the blood cells' pH and sodium-potassium balance in check.
4. DCT empties its contents into collecting ducts.