Optimal transport parameters of the inner medullary collecting duct in interaction between urine concentrating and urea excreting mechanisms: a computer simulation study.

Although the accumulation of urea in the renal medulla is essential for the formation of concentrated urine, it is also necessary for the kidney to excrete considerable amounts of urea into the urine as a waste product of protein degradation. Thus, the urine concentrating capacity is attained by the interaction with the efficiency of urea excretion. To seek the best condition for this phenomenon, we developed an objective function for evaluating urea excreting capacity relative to urine concentrating capacity by using a mathematical model consisting of components of the countercurrent multiplication system: the ascending thin limb, capillary network, and inner medullary collecting duct. The values of the objective functions were calculated as three-dimensional functions of transport parameters for the inner medullary collecting duct, including hydraulic conductivity, urea permeability, and reflection coefficient for urea. The results of the computer analysis revealed that the maximum value of the objective function was attained when values for transport parameters of the inner medullary collecting duct corresponded to those experimentally obtained values reported previously. We conclude that the maximum urine concentrating capacity is limited by the efficiency of urea excreting capacity of the kidney, and vice versa.