Master Loop of Henle with Picmonic for Pre-Health
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Loop of Henle
Down-arrow into tube
The descending limb is the part of the loop of Henle where filtrate travels from renal cortex tissue to renal medulla tissue. This part of the loop of Henle is very water permeable.
Water-bottle Follows Salt-shaker
Water flows out of the descending limb, as there is an osmotic gradient created from a higher sodium concentration in the renal tissues, outside of the loop.
Medusa and Hiker-tonic
The salt concentration of the medulla increases as filtrate travels down the loop. As water travels out of the descending limb, other ions in the filtrate remain, causing medullary hypertonicity to develop.
Up-arrow Water
Water is absorbed from the descending loop of Henle into the surrounding renal tissues, helping to increase the loop of Henle’s medullary salt concentration.
Vase Erector-set
The vasa recta is a term describing a series of capillaries that maintain the concentration gradient of renal tissue. These capillaries do so by transporting the sodium absorbed from the ascending limb around to the descending limb.
Salt on ATP conveyor-belt
Sodium is reabsorbed into renal tissues in the ascending loop of Henle via active transport, in a process requiring ATP use.
Up-arrow Tube
The ascending limb of the loop of Henle has filtrate traveling towards the renal cortex tissue. It is more permeable to salts than the descending limb, and it is impermeable to water.
Salt-shaker, Banana and Chlorine-dispenser
Na+, K+ and Cl- are actively reabsorbed by the Na+/K+/2Cl- cotransporter into the renal cells surrounding the loop of henle.
Filtrate fluid turns from Dark yellow to Light yellow
The filtrate becomes less concentrated as it exits the loop of Henle because Na+, K+ and Cl- are actively reabsorbed into surrounding renal cells. Additionally, the ascending loop is impermeable to water, thus the filtrate becomes less concentrated.
Impermeable-raincoat
The ascending limb of the loop of Henle is impermeable to water, gradually making the filtrate less concentrated as it travels up the loop. This is because salts are transported out of the ascending limb, but water stays.
Disco-ball Tube
The loop of Henle exits to the distal tubule, which is the last major site of absorption in the nephron.
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