TABLE OF CONTENTS Nephrotoxicity was defined in 1991 by the World Health Organization as a renal disease or dysfunction that arises as a direct or indirect result of exposure to medicines and industrial or environmental chemicals.
Human kidneys are paired, bean-shaped organs. Each kidney weighs 120 170 g, and in the adult measures approximately 11 6 2.5 cm. The total kidney mass correlates with the body surface area. The kidney consists of the cortex and the medulla (Figure 16.1). The human kidney is a multilobar organ containing 4 18 pyramids of medullary substance and is situated so that their bases are adjacent to the cortex. In humans, 180 L of fluid are filtered into the tubular lumen every 24 h of which 178 L must be returned to the blood. Each human kidney contains approximately one million functional units called nephrons (Figure 16.2). Each nephron is made up of a renal corpuscle, the glomerulus, and of a complex tubular portion, which drains into a unifying tubular system, the collecting duct system. The tubular portion consists of a proximal and distal tubule, collectively referred to as the renal tubule. A connecting tubule lies between the nephron and the collecting ducts.
The renal corpuscle (first segment of the nephron) is the site at which an ultrafiltrate of the blood is produced. The filtrate moves from the capillary lumen into Bowman's space. This flow is influenced...
