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2018, Number S1

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Acta Med 2018; 16 (S1)

The studies that led to the concepts of glomerular filtration and tubular resorption: from the 17th to the 20th century

Peña RJC

Language: Spanish
References: 26
Page: 7-15
PDF size: 323.15 Kb.


ABSTRACT

This first article on “The wisdom of the kidney” describes the history of the observations and investigations that established that the main function of the kidney was glomerular filtration, followed by tubular reabsorption. These studies began in the 17th century, when Marcello Malpighi, a brilliant anatomist, described the glomeruli and advanced a hypothesis of the function of these small corpuscles. Almost 200 years later, in the 19th century, William Bowman in England extended and enriched Malpighi’s observations, along with the studies of Carl Ludwig and Rudolf Heidenhain both in Germany. All these researchers postulated the great controversy: What was more important: the filtration-reabsorption hypothesis or the tubular secretion? It was not until the 20th century, in 1923, that the micropuncture studies of the glomeruli in frogs, performed by JA Wearn and AN Richards in Pennsylvania, solved the problem. These authors demonstrated that the glomerular fluid was an ultrafiltrate of the blood and the tubules reabsorbed part of this fluid to form the final urine. This transcendent contribution marked the birth of modern renal physiology.


REFERENCES

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  5. Bowman W. On the structure and use of the malphighian bodies of the kidney, with observations on the circulation through that gland. Philos Trans R Soc Lond. 1942; 132: 57-80.

  6. Thurau K, Davis JM, Häberle DA. Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig: the founder of modern renal physiology. Pflugers Arch. 1996; 432 (3 Suppl): R68-R72.

  7. Ludwig C. De viribus physicis secretionem urinae adjuvantibus [Thesis]. Marburg, Germany; 1842. [Mencionado en la referencia 8]

  8. Jamison RL. Resolving an 80-yr.-old controversy: the beginning of the modern era of renal physiology. Adv Physiol Educ. 2014; 38 (4): 286-295.

  9. Heidenhain R, Neisser A. Versuche über den Vorgang der Harnabsonderung. Pflügers Arch Ges Physiol. 1874; 9: 1-27.

  10. Heidenhain R. Die Harnabsonderung. En: Hermann’s Handbuch der Physiol. Leipzig: Vogel; 1883, Vol. 5, pp. 279-373. [Mencionado en la referencia 8]

  11. Cushny AR. The secretion of the urine. London: Longmans, Green and Co; 1917.

  12. Richards AN, Walker AM. Quantitative studies of the glomerular elimination of phenol red and indigo carmine in frogs. J Biol Chem. 1930; 87: 479-498.

  13. Wearn JT. Composition of glomerular urine with conclusive evidence of reabsorption in the renal tubules. Physiologist. 1980; 23 (5): 1-4.

  14. Wearn JT, Findley T, Cochrane DW, Graham J. On working with Dr. Richards in Philadelphia. Recollections. Ann Intern Med. 1969: Suppl 8: 45-50.

  15. Bordley J 3rd, Richards AN. Quantitative studies of the composition of glomerular urine: VIII. The concentration of uric acid in glomerular urine of snakes and frogs, determined by an ultramicroadaptation of Folin’s method. J Biol Chem. 1933; 101: 193-221.

  16. Bordley J 3rd, Hendrix JP, Richards AN. Quantitative studies of the composition of glomerular urine: XI. The concentration of creatinine in glomerular urine of frogs determined by an ultramicroadaptation of Folin’s method. J Biol Chem. 1933; 101: 255-267.

  17. Freeman B, Livingston AE, Richards AN. A second series of quantitative estimations of the concentration of chlorides in glomerular urine from frogs. J Biol Chem. 1930; 87: 467-477.

  18. Hayman JM, Richards AN. Deposition of dyes, iron, and urea in the cells of a renal tubule after their injection into its lumen; glomerular elimination of the same substances. Am J Physiol. 1926; 79: 149-169.

  19. Richards AN, Walker AM. Methods of collecting fluid from known regions of the renal tubules of amphibia and of perfusing the lumen of a single tubule. Am J Physiol. 1937; 118: 111-120.

  20. Walker AM, Hudson CL, Findley T Jr., Richards AN. The total molecular concentration and the chloride concentration of fluid from different segments of the renal tubule of amphibia. The site of chloride reabsorption. Am J Physiol. 1937; 118: 21-129.

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  26. Burg M, Grantham J, Abramow M, Orloff J. Preparation and study of fragments of single rabbit nephrons. Am J Physiol. 1966; 210: 1293-1298.




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