Cortical radial arteries, formerly known as interlobular arteries,
are
renal
In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and right in the retrop ...
blood vessels
Blood vessels are the tubular structures of a circulatory system that transport blood throughout many animals’ bodies. Blood vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to most of the tissues of a body. They also take waste an ...
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 (, : 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 (su ...
with each other, but form
end-arteries.
In their outward course, they give off lateral branches, which are the
afferent arterioles that supply the
renal corpuscles. The afferent arterioles, 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 Renal tubule, tubular component of a nephron in the mammalian kidney that performs the first step in the filtration of b ...
and end in the
glomerulus.
From each glomerulus, the corresponding
efferent arteriole 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 in diameter, and is part of the microcirculation system. Capillaries are microvessels and the smallest blood vessels in the body. They are composed of only the tunica intima (the inn ...
) around their adjacent
renal tubules. For
cortical nephrons, a single network of capillaries, known as the
peritubular capillaries
In the renal system, peritubular capillaries are tiny blood vessels, supplied by the efferent arteriole, that travel alongside nephrons allowing reabsorption and secretion between blood and the inner lumen of the nephron. Peritubular capillaries ...
, surrounds the entire renal tubule, whereas for
juxtamedullary nephrons, the peritubular capillaries surround only the
proximal
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
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 ...
, surrounds the
nephron loop (of
Henle).
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