Renal System 5, Positions of the nephrons

Most nephrons are cortical. These have their corpuscles near to the outside border of the renal parenchyma, in the outer part of the cortex. Some nephrons have their corpuses closet to the medulla, deep in the cortex. The tubules proceeding from these corpusels have long loops which pass down deep into the medullary pyramids. As these tubules have longer loops, they are able to produce more concentrated urine. This allows the body to remove metabolic waste products, while loosing the minimum volume of water to act as the solvent. So when fluid intake is low, urine volumes will also be low, but the urine will be more concentrated. Amazing how the body is pre-prepared to survive in a wide range of environments.

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