Distributed loops of Henle in a central core model of the renal medulla: Where should the solute come out? (Q803062)

In the mammalian kidney the number of loops of Henle decreases as a function of medullary depth. The role of this decreasing loop population was studied in a steady-state, central core model of the renal inner medulla under simple assumptions: there is no axial diffusion in the central core; the osmolalities in the central core, the descending limbs, and the collecting ducts are equal at each medullary level; and the concentration gradient is generated through the reabsorption of solute from the water-impermeable ascending limbs. A continuous approximation to the loop distribution in rats was based on experimental data.