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Counter-Current Mechanism MCQ - Practice Questions with Answers

Edited By admin | Updated on Sep 18, 2023 18:34 AM | #NEET

Quick Facts

14 Questions around this concept.

Solve by difficulty

EASY

If Henle’s loop were absent from mammalian nephron, which of the following is to be expected?

The urine will be more concentrated

The urine will be more diluted

There will be no urine formation

There will be hardly any change in the quality and quantity of urine formed

View Solution

Match the terms given in Column I with their physiological processes given in Column II and choose the correct answer

Column I		Column II
A.	Proximal convoluted tubule	(i)	Formation of concentrated urine
B.	Distal convoluted tubule	(ii)	Filtration of blood
C.	Henle’s loop	(iii)	Reabsorption of 70-80% of electrolytes
D.	Counter-current mechanism	(iv)	Ionic balance
E.	Renal corpuscle	(v)	Maintenance of concentration gradient in medulla

A—(iii), B—(v), C—(iv), D—(ii), E—(i)

A—(iii), B—(iv), C—(i), D—(v), E—(ii)

A—(i), B—(iii), C—(ii), D—(v), E—(iv)

A—(iii), B—(i), C—(iv), D—(v), E—(ii)

View Solution

Concepts Covered - 1

Mechanism of Concentration of Urine

Mammals have the ability to produce concentrated urine.
The Henle’s loop and vasa recta play a significant role in this.
The flow of filtrate in the two limbs of Henle’s loop is in opposite directions and thus forms a counter current.
The flow of blood through the two limbs of vasa recta is also in a countercurrent pattern.
The proximity between the Henle’s loop and vasa recta, as well as the countercurrent in them, help in maintaining an increasing osmolarity towards the inner medullary interstitium, i.e., from 300 mOsmolL–1 in the cortex to about 1200 mOsmolL–1 in the inner medulla.
This gradient is mainly caused by NaCl and urea.
NaCl is transported by the ascending limb of Henle’s loop which is exchanged with the descending limb of vasa recta.
NaCl is returned to the interstitium by the ascending portion of vasa recta.
Similarly, small amounts of urea enter the thin segment of the ascending limb of Henle’s loop which is transported back to the interstitium by the collecting tubule.
The above-described transport of substances facilitated by the special arrangement of Henle’s loop and vasa recta is called the countercurrent mechanism.
This mechanism helps to maintain a concentration gradient in the medullary interstitium.
Presence of such interstitial gradient helps in easy passage of water from the collecting tubule thereby concentrating the filtrate (urine).
The overall function of the countercurrent mechanism is to concentrate the sodium chloride in the interstitial fluid and thereby cause water to diffuse out of the collecting ducts and concentrate the urine.
Human kidneys can produce urine nearly four times concentrated than the initial filtrate formed.