glomerula

The glomerulus is a vital component of the nephron, the functional unit of the kidney responsible for filtering waste from the blood and producing urine. It is a cluster of microscopic blood vessels, or capillaries, enclosed within a double-walled capsule known as Bowman's capsule. This combined structure of glomerulus and Bowman's capsule is called the renal corpuscle.12

Blood pressure forces plasma, minus large molecules like proteins, from the glomerular capillaries into Bowman's capsule. This filtered fluid, termed capsular urine, then moves into a tubule for further processing into urine. The glomerulus plays a critical role in initiating urine formation through a process called ultrafiltration. Inflammation of the glomeruli and nephrons is known as Bright disease, now more commonly referred to as glomerulonephritis.2134