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Nephron

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nephron

[′nef‚rän]
(anatomy)
The functional unit of a kidney, consisting of the glomerulus with its capsule and attached uriniferous tubule.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Nephron

 

the basic structural and functional unit of the kidneys in vertebrate animals and man. A distinction is made between aglomerular and glomerular nephrons. Aglomerular nephrons are found in certain fishes and contain cells of a single type; glomerular nephrons, found in all other vertebrates and in man, contain the Malpighian bodies and Bowman’s capsules. The renal tubules extend from Bowman’s capsules.

The cells of glomerular nephrons are highly specialized to perform the functions required in the formation of urine—filtration, reabsorption, and secretion. In embryos the nephron also includes the nephrostomes, which are the ciliated infundibuli of the tubules. The nephrostomes open into the body cavity.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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