Journal of Enam Medical College (Jan 2014)
Diameter of Renal Corpuscles of Bangladeshi People in Different Age Groups
Abstract
Background: The functional unit of the kidney is the uriniferous tubule which consists of a nephron and a collecting duct. The nephron consists of two components ─ the renal corpuscle and the renal tubule. Blood is filtered by the renal corpuscle and the filtered substance is poured into the renal tubule and collecting duct. There are about two million renal corpuscles in each kidney. Renal diseases that involve the nephron mostly affect renal corpuscles. Due to aging there is gradual increase in size of renal corpuscle with subsequent decrease of renal function. It is essential to know the functional status of an aged kidney for management of kidney diseases or renal transplantation. As there are very few known studies about the diameter of renal corpuscle in Bangladeshi people, we designed this study. Objective: To find out the difference in diameters of renal corpuscles in micrometer in the stained section of kidneys in different age groups. Materials and Methods: This is an observational type of study carried out in the department of Anatomy of Sir Salimullah Medical College (SSMC) from January 2004 to December 2005. The study was performed on 50 pairs of human kidneys. All these samples were collected from the bodies of unclaimed autopsied individuals from the morgue of the departments of Forensic Medicine of Dhaka Medical College and SSMC. The collected samples were divided into three groups ─ Group A (6−20 yrs), Group B (21−35 yrs) and Group C (36−65 yrs). Results: The diameters of renal corpuscles were found 157.10 ± 5.58 and 154.25 ± 8.90 micrometers in the right and left kidneys of Group A, 159.04 ± 8.55 and 159.18 ± 9.89 micrometers in the right and left kidneys of Group B and 176.58 ± 6.69 and 178.35 ± 8.84 micrometers in the right and left kidneys of Group C. There was significant difference of diameters between Group A and Group C and between Group B and Group C. Conclusion: The diameter of renal corpuscle increases significantly with age after 35 years.
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