Question

What is a Malpighian body?

Answer 1

Hint: Maphigian body is a part of nephron that is commonly called as renal corpuscle which serves as the site of blood plasma filtration during the process of urine formation.

Complete answer
Nephrons are the functional unit of the kidneys. Each kidney consists of 1 million nephrons, which are bound together by connective tissue.
Each nephron comprises two parts: a malpighian body (or a renal corpuscle) and a renal tubule into which the filtered fluid passes.

Additional Information
A malpighian body has two components- the glomerulus (a tuft of capillaries formed by the afferent arteriole) and the Bowman’s capsule (a double walled epithelial cup that encloses the glomerulus).
The glomerular capillary membrane is similar to that of other capillaries, except it has three layers (instead of two): the fenestrated endothelium (a layer of simple squamous cells, called endothelial cells), a basement membrane and a layer of epithelial cells (podocytes) surrounding the outer surface of the capillary basement membrane.
The Malpighian corpuscle performs the crucial step involved in urine formation. Glomerular filtration occurs when blood enters the glomerulus through the afferent arteriole. Due to glomerular blood pressure, water and small solutes (such as glucose, amino acids, nitrogenous wastes and ions) present in blood move from the glomerulus to the inside of the glomerular capsule. This is a filtration process because large molecules (such as proteins) and formed elements (blood cells and platelets) are unable to pass through the capillary wall. The filtered fluid (called the glomerular filtrate) is essentially protein-free and devoid of cells.

Note:
The volume of fluid filtered by the malpighian body is much larger than in other capillaries of the body for three reasons:
> Glomerular capillaries provide larger surface area for filtration because they are long.
> The filtration membrane is thin and porous.
> Glomerular capillary blood pressure is high because the afferent arteriole has higher diameter than efferent arteriole.