Autoregulation of GFR and RBF
| Overview |
|---|
- Autoregulatory mechanisms of Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) and Renal Blood Flow (RBF) refer to those processes that appear to operate intrinsically within the kidney itself and can be reproduced even in isolated organs. The basic goal of these autoregulatory processes appears to be maintenance of a near constant fluid flow rate through the nephron across a wide range of systemic arterial pressures. For example, the empirical GFR of an isolated kidney changes only slightly even when doubling the systemic arterial pressure from 80 mm Hg to 160 mm Hg. These autoregulatory processes thus help prevent nephrons from being overwhelmed at high arterial pressures and avoid dangerous drops in GFR at low arterial pressures.
| Mechanisms |
|---|
- To a certain extent intrinsic mechanisms of local blood flow regulation, especially the "Myogenic Mechanism" operating in small renal arterioles, may contribute to maintaining a constant renal blood flow to glomeruli. However, the principal mechanism by which RBF and GFR is autoregulated appears to be through tubuloglomerular feedback.
| Subtopics |
|---|