Describe the structure of a human kidney

The kidney is a reddish-brown coloured organ which is a bean-shaped located between the last thoracic and third lumbar vertebra near the abdominal cavity. The hilum

is a notch which is present in the inner side of the kidney through which ureter, blood vessels and nerves enter. Columns of Bertini and an inner medulla divided into

medullary pyramids projecting into the calyx which is inside the kidney. The glomerulus and the renal tubule are the two functional units of the nephron. The renal

tubule starts with a cup-like structure called Bowman’s capsule, by the glomerulus is enclosed and together they are called the renal corpuscle. Then it is followed by

proximal convoluted tubule (PCT) followed by a hairpin shaped Henle’s loop having a descending and an ascending limb. The ascending limb continues as another

highly coiled tubular structure called distal convoluted tubule (DCT). The DCTs open into a tube called a collecting duct.