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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.
Glomerulus (/ ɡ l ə ˈ m ɛr (j) əl ə s, ɡ l oʊ-/; pl.: glomeruli) is a common term used in anatomy to describe globular structures of entwined vessels, fibers, or neurons. Glomerulus is the diminutive of the Latin glomus, meaning "ball of yarn". Glomerulus may refer to: Glomerulus (kidney), the filtering unit of the kidney
In mammals, glomeruli typically range between 50-120 μm in diameter and number between 1100 and 2400 depending on the species, with roughly between 1100 and 1200 in humans. [1] [2] The number of glomeruli in a human decreases with age; in humans that are over 80 they are nearly absent. [5]
Glomerular hyperfiltration is a situation where the filtration elements in the kidneys called glomeruli produce excessive amounts of pro-urine. It can be part of a number of medical conditions particularly diabetic nephropathy (kidney damage associated with diabetes).
Glomerulosclerosis is the hardening of the glomeruli in the kidney. It is a general term to describe scarring of the kidneys' tiny blood vessels, the glomeruli, the functional units in the kidney that filter urea from the blood. Proteinuria (large amounts of protein in the urine) is one of the signs of glomerulosclerosis. Scarring disturbs the ...
Glomerulonephritis (GN) is a term used to refer to several kidney diseases (usually affecting both kidneys). Many of the diseases are characterised by inflammation either of the glomeruli or of the small blood vessels in the kidneys, hence the name, [1] but not all diseases necessarily have an inflammatory component.
Bowman's capsule (or the Bowman capsule, capsula glomeruli, or glomerular capsule) is a cup-like sac at the beginning of the tubular component of a nephron in the mammalian kidney that performs the first step in the filtration of blood to form urine. A glomerulus is enclosed in the sac. Fluids from blood in the glomerulus are collected in the ...
Over 150 liters of fluid enter the glomeruli of an adult every day: 99% of the water in that filtrate is reabsorbed. Reabsorption occurs in the renal tubules and is either passive, due to diffusion, or active, due to pumping against a concentration gradient. Secretion also occurs in the tubules and collecting duct and is active.