What is the functional unit of the kidney?

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Multiple Choice

What is the functional unit of the kidney?

The kidney’s functional unit is the nephron because it handles the complete process of urine formation: filtration, followed by selective reabsorption and secretion along its tubules to produce concentrated urine. Filtration occurs at the glomerulus, inside the renal corpuscle, where blood pressure forces water and small solutes into Bowman's capsule. But filtration alone isn’t the whole job; as the filtrate moves through the proximal tubule, loop of Henle, distal tubule, and collecting duct, most water and essential solutes are reabsorbed and wastes may be secretioned, refining the filtrate into urine. There are about a million nephrons per kidney, each combining a filtration site with a tubular processing site, which is why the nephron, not just the glomerulus or the renal corpuscle or the renal tubule alone, is the functional unit.

The kidney’s functional unit is the nephron because it handles the complete process of urine formation: filtration, followed by selective reabsorption and secretion along its tubules to produce concentrated urine. Filtration occurs at the glomerulus, inside the renal corpuscle, where blood pressure forces water and small solutes into Bowman's capsule. But filtration alone isn’t the whole job; as the filtrate moves through the proximal tubule, loop of Henle, distal tubule, and collecting duct, most water and essential solutes are reabsorbed and wastes may be secretioned, refining the filtrate into urine. There are about a million nephrons per kidney, each combining a filtration site with a tubular processing site, which is why the nephron, not just the glomerulus or the renal corpuscle or the renal tubule alone, is the functional unit.

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