Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The nephron is the minute or microscopic structural and functional unit of the kidney. It is composed of a renal corpuscle and a renal tubule . The renal corpuscle consists of a tuft of capillaries called a glomerulus and a cup-shaped structure called Bowman's capsule .
The nephron is the structural and functional unit of the kidney. Each adult human kidney contains around 1 million nephrons, while a mouse kidney contains only about 12,500 nephrons. The kidneys also carry out functions independent of the nephrons.
This filtrate then flows along the length of the nephron, which is a tubular structure lined by a single layer of specialized cells and surrounded by capillaries. The major functions of these lining cells are the reabsorption of water and small molecules from the filtrate into the blood, and the secretion of wastes from the blood into the urine.
Diagram outlining movement of ions in nephron, with the collecting ducts on the right. The collecting duct system is the final component of the kidney to influence the body's electrolyte and fluid balance. In humans, the system accounts for 4–5% of the kidney's reabsorption of sodium and 5% of the kidney's reabsorption of water. At times of ...
Within a single nephron, regenerative abilities differ between its parts. [199] In acute toxic and ischemic injuries, the tubules are able to regenerate and restore the function of the nephron. [196] In particular, the proximal part of the nephron, through which up to two-thirds of the primary urine is absorbed, [200] has the ability to ...
The basic physiologic mechanisms of handling fluid and electrolytes by the nephron - filtration, secretion, reabsorption, and excretion - are labelled. Assessment of kidney function occurs in different ways, using the presence of symptoms and signs, as well as measurements using urine tests, blood tests, and medical imaging.
In the kidney, the loop of Henle (English: / ˈ h ɛ n l i /) (or Henle's loop, Henle loop, [1] nephron loop [2] or its Latin counterpart ansa nephroni) is the portion of a nephron that leads from the proximal convoluted tubule to the distal convoluted tubule.
Its chief function is to regulate the concentration of water and soluble substances like sodium by filtering the blood, reabsorbing what is needed and excreting the rest as urine. In the first part of the nephron, Bowman's capsule filters blood from the circulatory system into the tubules.