1. Tardigrade
  2. Question
  3. Biology
  4. Which set of ions/solutes is responsible for maintaining the gradient of the medullary interstitium?

Question Error Report

Thank you for reporting, we will resolve it shortly

Back to Question

Q. Which set of ions/solutes is responsible for maintaining the gradient of the medullary interstitium?

NTA AbhyasNTA Abhyas 2022

Solution:

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 counter-current pattern. The proximity between the Henle’s loop and vasa recta, as well as the counter-current 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.