glomerulus (redirected from Kidney glomerulus)

glomerulus /glo·mer·u·lus/ (glo-mer´u-lus) pl. glomer´uli   [L.] a small tuft or cluster, as of blood vessels or nerve fibers; often used alone to designate one of the renal glomeruli.

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olfactory glomerulus  one of the small globular masses of dense neuropil in the olfactory bulb, containing the first synapse in the olfactory pathway.

renal glomerulus  globular tufts of capillaries, one projecting into the expanded end or capsule of each of the uriniferous tubules, which together with the glomerular capsule constitute the renal corpuscle.

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glo·mer·u·lus (gl-mry-ls)

n. pl. glo·mer·u·li (-l)

1. A small cluster or intertwined mass.

2. A tuft of capillaries situated within a Bowman's capsule at the end of a renal tubule in the vertebrate kidney that filters waste products from the blood and thus initiates urine formation.

3. The twisted secretory portion of a sweat gland.

4. A nerve ending consisting of a cluster of dendritic ramifications and axon terminals surrounded by a glial sheath.

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Glomerulus (glomeruli)

A small tuft of blood capillaries in the kidney, responsible for filtering out waste products.

Mentioned in: Goodpasture's Syndrome, Nephrotoxic Injury

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glomerulus

[glōmer′yoo͡ləs] pl. glomeruli

Etymology: L, small ball

1 a tuft or cluster.

2 a structure composed of blood vessels or nerve fibers, such as a renal glomerulus. glomerular, adj.

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glomerulus (glōmer´yls),

n a cluster of blood vessels or nerve fibers, such as the cluster of blood vessels in the kidney that function as filters of the plasma portion of the blood.

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glomerulus

pl. glomeruli [L.] a small tuft or cluster.

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cerebellar glomerulus

termination sites for dendrites and axons of cerebellar and medullary and spinal nerve fibers.

olfactory glomerulus

termination points of olfactory nerves in the olfactory lobes.

renal glomerulus

a small convoluted mass of capillaries, a network of vascular tufts, encased in the malpighian or Bowman's capsule.

The glomerulus is an integral part of the nephron, the basic unit of the kidney. Each nephron is capable of forming urine by itself, and each kidney has many nephrons. The specific function of each glomerulus is to bring blood (and the waste products it carries) to the nephron. As the blood flows through the glomerulus, about one-fifth of the plasma passes through the glomerular membrane, collects in the malpighian capsule, and then flows through the renal tubules. Much of this fluid passes back into the blood via the small capillaries around the tubules (peritubular capillaries). The continuous filtration of fluid from the glomeruli and its reabsorption into the peritubular capillaries is made possible by a high pressure in the glomerular capillary bed and a low pressure in the peritubular bed.

Any disease of the glomeruli, such as acute or chronic glomerulonephritis, must be considered serious because it interferes with the basic functions of the kidneys; that is, filtration of liquids and excretion of certain end products of metabolism and excess sodium, potassium and chloride ions that may accumulate in the blood.