Effect of intracellular unstirred layer on apparent reflection coefficient for urea in inner medullary collecting duct: a computer simulation.

In the vasopressin-stimulated inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD), urea is transported through a pathway which is distinct from a water channel. Therefore, no frictional interaction between urea and water should occur at the membrane level, and the reflection coefficient for urea must be close to unity. However, the presence of unstirred layers in the vicinity of membranes causes solute concentration polarization, leading to an underestimation of the reflection coefficient (apparent reflection coefficient). When the value is determined across the perfused renal tubular wall, the intracellular space also constitutes an unstirred layer. The profile of solute and water transport across the system consisting of two membranes and the interposed intracellular space was simulated by a computer to examine the effect of unstirred layer on the value of apparent reflection coefficient. The model demonstrated that the imposed osmotic gradient across the tubular epithelial is decreased at each membrane interface. Under conditions of minimal unstirred layers in the bathing fluid, the existence of the intracellular constraints to diffusion cause considerable underestimation of the reflection coefficient. The higher the membrane permeability of urea and the smaller the diffusion coefficient of urea in the intracellular space, the greater becomes the magnitude of the underestimation. Thus, the measured apparent reflection coefficient for urea may become significantly less than the estimated value, leading to a reduction of the effective transmural osmotic driving force.