PHS 4300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Glomerular Basement Membrane, Renal Function, Oncotic Pressure

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Physiology
• Course: PHS 4300
• Professor: Joanne Savory

Document Summary

There are no cures for kidney disease; it is treated with dialysis or transplants. Blood flows through renal artery and then branches off into smaller arteries, 25% of blood goes through the kidneys at any time. Filtration occurs exclusively in the cortex, that"s why 99% of the blood flow is found in the cortex. Afferent arteriole comes into the glomerulus and efferent goes out of it. Albumin is a protein that participates in cholesterol control among other things. You need it because it creates a pressure within your blood and it will pull water towards it against a barrier that is permeable to water, which is important in terms of your extracellular fluid volume. Visceral epithelial cells or podo ( foot ) cells, have processes that sit down on the basement membrane and in between them is the last layer where filtration occurs.