The glomerulus is a capillary bed found surrounded by the Bowman's capsule of the nephron in the vertebrate kidney. Blood is fed to the glomerulus through the afferent arteriole, and empties into the efferent arteriole. The efferent arteriole is smaller in diameter than the afferent arteriole, so there is extra hydrostatic pressure in the glomerulus which forces blood plasma (without proteins) out of the glomerulus through the process of ultrafiltration. These fluids are absorbed by the Bowman's capsule, forming the filtrate that becomes urine.
Glo*mer"u*lus (?), n.; pl. Glomeruli (#). [NL., dim. of L. glomus. See 3d Glome.] Anat.
The bunch of looped capillary blood vessels in a Malpighian capsule of the kidney.
© Webster 1913.
Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.