Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Glomerular basement membrane
Introduction
The glomerular basement membrane is the basal laminal portion of the glomerulus which performs the actual filtration though the filtration slits between the podocytes , separating the blood on the inside from the filtrate on the outside. It is a fusion of the endothelial cell and podocyte basal laminas. [1]
Layers
Layers
The GBM contains three layers: [2]
| Layer | Location | Composition | Function |
| lamina rara externa | adjacent to podocyte processes | heparan sulfate | blocks by charge |
| lamina densa | dark central zone | type 4 collagen and laminin | blocks by size (MW > 69,000) |
| lamina rara interna | adjacent to endothelial cells | heparan sulfate | blocks by charge |
Pathology
Pathology
- Goodpasture’s syndrome is also known as “anti-glomerular basement membrane disease”. Capillaries become inflamed as a result of damage to the basement membrane by antibodies.
- Nephrotic syndrome is a change in the structure of the glomerular filtration mechanism usually in the glomerular basement membrane. Some symptoms include proteinuria, hypoalbuminaemia, oedema, and hyperlipidemia.
- Diabetic glomerulosclerosis is a thickening of the basement membrane, which can become up to 4-5 times thicker than normal. Can be caused by insulin deficiency or resultant hyperglycemia.
References
References
- ↑ Essentials of Human Physiology by Thomas M. Nosek. Section 7/7ch04/7ch04p07. – “Basement Membrane”
- ↑ http://www.jci.org/cgi/content/full/116/8/2090/F1
External links
External links
- glomerular+basement+membrane at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
- “The GBM and its disorders” at dmed.ed.ac.uk
- Histology at harvard.edu
- Structure at wramc.army.mi