Filtration barrier components

Filtration barrier components

Filtration barrier components

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Filtration Barrier - The Kidney's Triple Filter

Glomerular Filtration Barrier Components

  • A three-layered structure that filters blood based on size and charge, creating the ultrafiltrate.
  • Fenestrated Capillary Endothelium:
    • First layer, freely permeable to water, solutes, and plasma proteins but blocks blood cells.
    • Pore size is approximately 70-100 nm.
  • Glomerular Basement Membrane (GBM):
    • The principal barrier to large proteins like albumin.
    • Composed of Type IV collagen (structural integrity) and heparan sulfate (provides a negative charge).
    • This negative charge repels other negatively charged molecules (charge barrier).
  • Podocyte Foot Processes (Pedicels):
    • Outermost layer; processes are separated by filtration slits (~25-60 nm).
    • Slit diaphragms, composed of proteins like nephrin and podocin, bridge these slits, providing a final size barrier.

⭐ In nephrotic syndrome (e.g., minimal change disease), effacement of podocyte foot processes and loss of the GBM's negative charge leads to massive proteinuria (albuminuria).

📌 Mnemonic: Endothelium, Basement Membrane, Podocytes (Every Body Pees).

Barrier Selectivity - Size & Charge Rules

  • Size Barrier: The glomerular basement membrane (GBM) and podocyte slit diaphragms restrict the passage of large molecules.

    • Freely filters substances < 70 kDa.
    • Albumin (~69 kDa) is near the cutoff and is mostly repelled.
  • Charge Barrier: All three layers contain negatively charged glycoproteins (e.g., heparan sulfate).

    • This barrier repels negatively charged molecules (anions) like albumin.
    • It allows easier passage for neutral and positively charged molecules (cations).

Clinical Pearl: In diseases like minimal change disease, the negative charge of the barrier is lost. This leads to selective albuminuria, as the size barrier remains intact but the charge repulsion is gone.

Glomerular Filtration Barrier Components

Clinical Correlations - When the Filter Fails

  • Damage to the glomerular filtration barrier manifests as two major clinical syndromes:

  • Nephrotic Syndrome: Characterized by massive proteinuria.

    • 📌 NephrOtic syndrome features massive prOteinuria.
    • Protein loss >3.5 g/day.
    • Pathophysiology: Podocyte effacement (flattening of foot processes), leading to loss of the charge and size barrier to albumin.
    • Classic Example: Minimal Change Disease, where glomeruli appear normal on light microscopy but show widespread foot process effacement on electron microscopy. Podocyte effacement in minimal change disease vs. control
  • Nephritic Syndrome: An inflammatory process (glomerulonephritis).

    • Hallmarks: Hematuria (RBC casts are pathognomonic) and mild proteinuria.
    • Pathophysiology: Inflammation creates physical gaps in the barrier, allowing RBCs and proteins to pass.
    • Examples:
      • Alport Syndrome: Genetic defect in Type IV collagen, a key GBM component.
      • Goodpasture Syndrome: Autoantibodies attack the GBM (anti-GBM antibodies).

⭐ In Goodpasture Syndrome, immunofluorescence microscopy reveals a classic, pathognomonic linear deposition of IgG along the entire glomerular basement membrane.

High‑Yield Points - ⚡ Biggest Takeaways

  • The filtration barrier has three layers: fenestrated capillary endothelium, glomerular basement membrane (GBM), and podocyte foot processes with slit diaphragms.
  • It acts as both a size and charge barrier, restricting large molecules and anions.
  • The GBM contains heparan sulfate, creating a crucial negative charge barrier that repels albumin.
  • Podocyte slit diaphragms provide the final, most restrictive size barrier.
  • Damage to the barrier, especially the loss of negative charge, leads to proteinuria.

Practice Questions: Filtration barrier components

Test your understanding with these related questions

A 12-year-old boy is found on a routine auditory screening to have mild high frequency hearing impairment. On exam, he has no ear pain, no focal neurological deficits, and no cardiac murmurs. He has not had any recent illness. Laboratory studies show: Serum: Creatinine: 0.7 mg/dl Protein: 3.8 g/dl Antistreptolysin O titer: 60 Todd units (12-166 normal range) Urinalysis: Microscopic heme Protein: 4+ RBCs: 6/hpf A kidney biopsy is taken. Which of the following findings is most characteristic of this patient’s disease?

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Flashcards: Filtration barrier components

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At the end of a glomerular capillary, the ultrafiltration pressure equals zero, a point called _____

TAP TO REVEAL ANSWER

At the end of a glomerular capillary, the ultrafiltration pressure equals zero, a point called _____

filtration equilibrium

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