Bowman
Bowman's Capsule
Bowman's Capsule (pronounced: boh-man's kap-suhl) is a cup-like sac at the beginning of the tubular component of a nephron in the mammalian kidney that performs the first step in the filtration of blood to form urine.
Etymology
The term "Bowman's Capsule" is named after Sir William Bowman (1816–1892), an English physician and anatomist.
Function
The primary function of Bowman's Capsule is to surround the glomerulus, a network of tiny blood vessels in the kidney. The blood is filtered across the capillary walls of this tuft through the filtration slits of the podocytes, with the resulting filtrate being further processed along the nephron to form urine.
Related Terms
- Nephron: The functional unit of the kidney, consisting of a glomerulus, renal tubule, and collecting tubule, through which the glomerular filtrate passes before it is eliminated as urine.
- Glomerulus: A network of tiny blood vessels, or capillaries, in the kidney, where waste products are filtered from the blood.
- Podocytes: Specialized cells in the Bowman's capsule in the kidneys that wrap around capillaries of the glomerulus.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Bowman
- Wikipedia's article - Bowman
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