The morphological basis of fluid balance in the interstitium of the juxtaglomerular apparatus

Abstract

The morphological basis of fluid balance in the interstitium of the juxtaglomerular apparatus (JGA) was reevaluated in rats, mice and Tupaia. Three ultrastructural features in the region of the vascular pole of the renal corpuscle are described that may be important for the fluid balance in this region: (1) podocyte foot processes in the parietal layer of Bowman's capsule, (2) endothelial fenestrations in the wall of the incoming afferent arteriole, both facing Goormaghtigh and epithelioid cells, and (3) the mesangial-type lining of the glomerular stalk. With respect to the relevant pressure gradients, this morphology may provide the basis of bulk-fluid flow directed to the interstitium of the JGA including the Goormaghtigh cell field. Thus, the fluid balance in the lacis area and, consequently, the tubulo-glomerular feedback mechanism, probably does not solely depend upon the reabsorptive transport of the macula densa. Similar considerations may be valid for the humoral control of renin secretion from juxtaglomerular epithelioid cells.