Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Fig.1) Schematic diagram of the nephron (yellow), relevant circulation (red/blue), and the four methods of altering the filtrate. The nephron is the functional unit of the kidney. [3] This means that each separate nephron is where the main work of the kidney is performed. A nephron is made of two parts:
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.
The glomerulus (pl.: glomeruli) is a network of small blood vessels (capillaries) known as a tuft, located at the beginning of a nephron in the kidney. Each of the two kidneys contains about one million nephrons. The tuft is structurally supported by the mesangium (the space between the blood vessels), composed of intraglomerular mesangial cells.
The renal corpuscle acts to filter blood. Fluid from blood in the glomerulus is collected in the Bowman's capsule to form "glomerular filtrate", which is then further processed along the nephron to form urine. It does this via a filtration barrier.
Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is the volume of fluid filtered from the renal (kidney) glomerular capillaries into the Bowman's capsule per unit time. [4] Central to the physiologic maintenance of GFR is the differential basal tone of the afferent (input) and efferent (output) arterioles (see diagram).
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.
The nephron is composed of a renal corpuscle and a renal tubule. The renal corpuscle is a blood-filtering part of the nephron and is located in the cortex. The renal tubule extends from the renal corpuscle to the medulla into the loop of Henle and then returns back to the cortex. Finally, the renal tubule flows with its distal end into its ...
This process is called ultrafiltration; the resulting fluid, virtually free of large proteins and blood cells, is referred to as glomerular filtrate, or ultrafiltrate. [1] Further modification of ultrafiltrate, by reabsorption and secretion, transforms it into urine. Glomerular pressure is about 75 millimeters of mercury (10 kPa). It is opposed ...