Human kidney glomeruli, with special reference to those in the aged person: scanning electron microscopic study of microvascular corrosion casts.
Blood vascular beds of fetal, adult and aged human kidneys were reproduced with methyl methacrylate and observed with a scanning electron microscope. The kidney glomeruli, including those from the fetal kidneys, had anastomosing capillaries. The glomeruli in the kidneys of an aged person contained many more capillaries which were much more tortuous than those of the adult and fetal kidneys. Furthermore, it was observed that the glomeruli in the kidneys of the aged person usually received tortuous afferent vessels and frequently emitted multiple efferent arterioles. The glomeruli in the juxtamedullary layer of the kidneys of the aged person were rather small in size and contained degenerative capillary networks. This observation suggests that the medulla of the kidneys of the aged is poorly supplied with blood.
Hitomi
K
K
Department of Anatomy, Okayama University Medical School, Japan.
Murakami
T
T
Kaneshige
T
T
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000196:embryology; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008954:Models, Biological