What leaks through the glomerular filter? · Week 11
Each glomerulus is a tiny filter. It normally keeps the big things, proteins and blood cells, inside the bloodstream. Only water and waste pass into the urine. It breaks in two ways. NephrOtic leaks prOtein, which makes foamy urine. NephrItic is Inflamed and leaks blood, which makes cola-colored urine. Click each one to watch the filter.
The glomerular filter
Blood flows through the capillary tuft at the top. Watch what crosses the filtration barrier into the urine in the tube below.
Pick a state to see what leaks into the urine.
Pick a stateNormal · Nephrotic · Nephritic
👆 Set the glomerulus
What is going on
Side by side
Feature
Nephrotic
Nephritic
Filter leaks…
protein only (picky)
blood + protein (everything)
What drives it
damaged barrier (podocytes)
inflammation of the glomerulus
Urine
foamy, protein >3.5 g/day
cola-colored (hematuria), RBC casts
Blood
↓ albumin, ↑ lipids
↑ BUN/creatinine (azotemia)
Hallmark signs
edema, hyperlipidemia
hypertension, oliguria
Classic causes
Diabetes, Lupus
Post-strep glomerulonephritis
Never mix them up again: nephrOtic → prOtein (foamy). NephrItic → Inflammation & hematurIa (blood).