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Renal Medulla
The renal medulla is made up of tubes going more or less in parallel lines from the cortex to the papilla. These are in reality 5 different tubes found in the renal medulla. With some practice, you can identify them all.
- Thick descending nephron loop. Resembles the proximal convoluted tubule in that it is simple cuboidal with a brush border.
- Thin descending nephron loop. Simple squamosal epithelial.
- Thick ascending nephron loop. resembles the distal convoluted tubule. Smaller tube of simple cuboidal epithelial that lacks a brush border.
- Collecting duct. Simple cuboidal epithelial that tends to be smaller than ascending loop. Also does not stain as red as the loop.
- Vasa Recta. Blood vessel that runs along loop. Simple squamosal and you will see blood in it.
These pictures were taken by me in the spring of 2021. They progress from scanning power (40x) to high power (400x).
Go through the pictures. Select one, draw it, and label the layers.
This
webpage does a good job explaning the histology of the loop.
| Labeled Image |
Unlabeled Images |
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1/ 6
scanning
2/ 6
scanning
3/ 6
Low Power
4/ 6
Low Power
5/ 6
High Power
6/ 6
High Power
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