The Renal Biopsy
Key points • Kidney biopsy plays an important role in the management of kidney disease. • Percutaneous kidney biopsy is generally safe if care is taken to select and prepare…
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Urine Concentration and Dilution
Key Points • Nephron segments and vasculature in the renal medulla are arranged in complex but specific anatomic relationships, both in terms of which segment leads to the next segment…
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Disorders of Water Balance
KEY POINTS • Because body water is the primary determinant of the osmolality of the extracellular fluid, disorders of water metabolism can be broadly divided into hyperosmolar disorders, in which…
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Aldosterone and Mineralocorticoid Receptors: Renal and Extrarenal Roles
Key Points • Inappropriate aldosterone hypersecretion relative to sodium status is much more common in people with hypertension than has been generally appreciated and is even found in a significant…
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Disorders of Acid-Base Balance
Acid-base homeostasis is critical for normal health. However, a variety of acute and chronic conditions commonly alter acid-base homeostasis and blood pH. This chapter reviews normal acid-base homeostasis and various…
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Vasoactive Molecules and the Kidney
Key Points • In addition to the classical endocrine renin-angiotensin system (RAS), which primarily functions through systemically circulating angiotensin II, a distinct local RAS operates within the kidney, acting in…
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Transport of Calcium, Magnesium, and Phosphate
Key Points • The renal tubular transport of minerals is under the tight regulation of key hormonal systems, including parathyroid hormone, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, and fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23). These…
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Disorders of Sodium Balance
Key Points • Sodium content of the extracellular compartment is a key determinant of circulatory integrity. • Cumulative surfeits and deficits of body sodium, respectively, increase (hypervolemia) and decrease (hypovolemia)…
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Renal Handling of Organic Solutes
Key Points • In a normoglycemic adult, the kidneys filter 160–180 g/day of glucose (∼30% of daily energy expenditure), which is reabsorbed by the sodium glucose cotransporter SGLT2 (∼97%) and…
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Renal Circulation and Glomerular Filtration
Key Points • Renal blood flow (RBF) is 20% of the cardiac output, and RBF and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) increase with protein intake in men and women. At any…
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