Kidneys: more than a blood filter
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A big greeting to the SteemSocial community, it is a pleasure for me to be able to share information that I consider important regarding our organism, considering that our body is not only a set of organs that work interrelated but also a psychological component that is very important.
But what I will share today is related to one of the most important functions of the kidneys. I know well that for most people when talking about the kidneys basically focus on what is the Urinary System, and certainly, we can say that its most elementary and important function is to form urine for excretion, but there is another function that is transcendental, and we could say that many people are unaware of, such as its role in controlling blood pressure.
There is something called Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System (RAAS) and it is a complex cascade of signals that follow one after the other, and are executed by means of substances that our organism produces in different parts of the body, and that one activates the other and is able to regulate our blood pressure by the effect they have on different organs and blood vessels.
Our body is very well managed at the ultrastructural level, and an organ can communicate with any other part of the body by means of signals that it sends in the form of hormonal or neuro-hormonal secretions, this is how this SRAA is able to affect the levels of blood pressure in our body. I will explain it below:
In the kidneys a protein called Renin is formed, which is responsible for activating another protein that is produced at the hepatic level, angiotensinogen, when this is activated it becomes called angiotensin I, which circulates in the blood throughout the body until it reaches the lungs.
In the lungs there is a very important macromolecule called Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE), this is in charge of converting angiotensin I into angiotensin II, which has a great importance in the regulation of blood pressure control.
-It does this in several ways, which I will mention below:
- It has a great effect on the blood vessels, it produces vasoconstriction, that is, it causes them to decrease in diameter, which causes a direct increase in vascular resistance and consequently an elevation of blood pressure.
- It acts on the kidneys causing them to increase the absorption of water and sodium, which increases volemia (amount of circulating blood) and this also has an effect on blood pressure.
- It also acts on the sympathetic system and produces an increase in the discharge of adrenaline and noradrenaline, which in turn increase heart rate as well as blood pressure.
All this is executed by means of a complex interaction of protein molecules that maintain the high blood pressure values.
I must also emphasize that all this knowledge is used to know where to act by means of drugs that are directed to decrease the values in people suffering from High Blood Pressure, for example, by decreasing the production of Renin, thus preventing the whole cascade of events and/or blocking ACE, so that it does not convert Angiotensin I.
Conclusion
From this publication I hope that you have a different notion regarding renal function, which is not only that of urine production, which is important, but that from the lumbar region, by means of the production of substances it has the possibility of acting in the control of blood pressure.
Bibliography consulted:
- El sistema renina-angiotensina-aldosterona y su papel
funcional más allá del control de la presión arterial - Capítulo 24 SISTEMA RENINA-ANGIOTENSINA-ALDOSTERONA
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