Question

What is ultrafiltration? Why the bowman's capsule and glomerular capillaries acts as ultrafilters?

Answer 1

Ultrafiltration

• It is the first step occurring during urine formation, where the blood is filtered, and the filtrate is formed and passed into the bowman's capsule. The filtrate thus formed is called the nephric filtrate.
• The bowman's capsule and glomerular capillaries act as ultrafilters because their ultrastructure facilitates ultrafiltration.
• The pores present in the glomerulus and the podocytes present in the bowman's capsule help in the filtration of blood and passing of the filtrate into the bowman's capsule.