Cortical radial arteries, formerly known as interlobular arteries,
are
renal
The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; bloo ...
blood vessels
The blood vessels are the components of the circulatory system that transport blood throughout the human body. These vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also take waste and carbon dioxide away f ...
given off at right angles from the side of the
arcuate arteries
The arcuate arteries of the kidney, also known as arciform arteries, are vessels of the renal circulation. They are located at the border of the renal cortex and renal medulla.
They are named after the fact that they are shaped in arcs due to the ...
looking toward the
cortical substance. The interlobular arteries pass directly outward between the
medullary rays to reach the fibrous tunic, where they end in the capillary network of this part.
These vessels do not
anastomose
An anastomosis (, plural anastomoses) is a connection or opening between two things (especially cavities or passages) that are normally diverging or branching, such as between blood vessels, leaf veins, or streams. Such a connection may be normal ...
with each other, but form
end-arteries.
In their outward course, they give off lateral branches, which are the
afferent arterioles
The afferent arterioles are a group of blood vessels that supply the nephrons in many excretory systems. They play an important role in the regulation of blood pressure as a part of the tubuloglomerular feedback mechanism.
The afferent arterio ...
that supply the
renal corpuscles. The afferent arterioles, then, enter
Bowman's capsule
Bowman's capsule (or the Bowman capsule, capsula glomeruli, or glomerular capsule) is a cup-like sac at the beginning of the tubular component of a nephron in the mammalian kidney that performs the first step in the filtration of blood to form u ...
and end in the
glomerulus.
From each glomerulus, the corresponding
efferent arteriole
The efferent arterioles are blood vessels that are part of the urinary tract of organisms. Efferent (from Latin ex + ferre) means "outgoing", in this case meaning carrying blood out away from the glomerulus. The efferent arterioles form a converg ...
arises and then exits the capsule near the point where the afferent arteriole enters.
Distally, efferent arterioles branch out to form dense
plexuses (i.e.,
capillary beds
A capillary is a small blood vessel from 5 to 10 micrometres (μm) in diameter. Capillaries are composed of only the tunica intima, consisting of a thin wall of simple squamous endothelial cells. They are the smallest blood vessels in the body: ...
) around their adjacent
renal tubules. For
cortical nephrons, a single network of capillaries, known as the
peritubular capillaries, surrounds the entire renal tubule, whereas for
juxtamedullary nephron
The nephron is the minute or microscopic structural and functional unit of the kidney. It is composed of a renal corpuscle and a Nephron#Renal tubule, renal tubule. The renal corpuscle consists of a tuft of capillary, capillaries called a glomeru ...
s, the peritubular capillaries surround only the
proximal
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position ...
and
distal convoluted tubules, while another network branching from the efferent arteriole, known as the
straight arterioles of kidney
The vasa recta of the kidney, (vasa recta renis) are the straight arterioles, and the straight venules of the kidney, – a series of blood vessels in the blood supply of the kidney that enter the medulla as the straight arterioles, and leave t ...
, surrounds the
nephron loop (of
Henle Henle can refer to:
*Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, a German physician, pathologist and anatomist (1809–1885)
** Loop of Henle
In the kidney, the loop of Henle () (or Henle's loop, Henle loop, nephron loop or its Latin counterpart ''ansa nephroni ...
).
Name
* Lote refers to them as "''cortical radial arteries (formerly called inter-lobular arteries)''"
* Mescher et al refer to them as "''interlobular arteries (or cortical radial arteries)''"
References
*
External links
* - "Urinary System: kidney, H&E, interlobular artery and vein"
{{Authority control
Kidney anatomy