Nephron

A nephron is a microscopic kidney unit that filters blood and forms urine through filtration, reabsorption, and secretion.

Glomerular filtration: The movement of water and small solutes from glomerular blood into the nephron’s tubular lumen. This first step transfers plasma filtrate into each nephron.
Renal corpuscle: The nephron’s filtration unit, consisting of the glomerulus and Bowman’s capsule. It is the site where blood first becomes filtrate.
Glomerular filtration rate: The volume of fluid filtered by kidney glomeruli per unit time. It estimates how effectively nephrons filter plasma.
Cortical nephron: A nephron whose renal corpuscle lies in the outer cortex and whose loop of Henle is relatively short. It is the common nephron type, with less medullary penetration.
Tubular reabsorption: The return of water and solutes from nephron fluid to the blood. It recovers useful substances that passed through the glomerular filter.
Glomerulus: A tuft of capillaries inside the renal corpuscle that filters plasma under pressure. Its capillary walls form part of the filtration barrier.
Creatinine clearance: An estimate of glomerular filtration rate based on creatinine concentrations in blood and urine. It uses filtration and urine output to assess kidney function.
Juxtamedullary nephron: A nephron with a corpuscle near the cortex–medulla boundary and a long loop extending deep into the medulla. Its long loop supports the concentration gradient needed for concentrated urine.
Tubular secretion: The transfer of substances from blood into nephron fluid for excretion. It adds selected wastes and ions to the forming urine.
Bowman's capsule: A double-walled structure surrounding the glomerulus that collects filtered fluid. Its inner layer receives filtrate from glomerular capillaries.

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