In which part of the kidney does ultrafiltration take place?
Answer Details
Ultrafiltration takes place in the Bowman's capsule of the kidney.
The Bowman's capsule is a small, cup-shaped structure at the beginning of the nephron, which is the functional unit of the kidney. The Bowman's capsule surrounds a cluster of tiny blood vessels called the glomerulus. As blood flows through the glomerulus, high pressure forces fluid and small molecules, such as ions, glucose, and amino acids, out of the blood and into the Bowman's capsule. This process is called ultrafiltration.
The ultrafiltrate, which is the fluid and molecules that are filtered out of the blood, then enters the proximal convoluted tubule where most of the valuable substances like glucose and amino acids are reabsorbed, and water and waste products continue to flow through the rest of the nephron to eventually be eliminated from the body as urine.