Glomerular size and volume distributions for cranial, medial, and caudal divisions of domestic fowl kidneys

Abstract

Separate renal arteries and renal portal veins supply the three divisions of domestic fowl kidneys, leading to uncertainty concerning the structural and functional homology of the different divisions. To assess the degree of anatomical similarity, separate glomerular size and volume distribution profiles were constructed for cranial, medial, and caudal divisions from the left and right kidneys of male and female domestic fowl. There were no significant differences between left and right divisions (intradivision comparisons) or between cranial, medial, and caudal divisions (interdivision comparisons) when the total number of glomeruli or total glomerular volumes were compared on a per gram kidney weight basis. Glomerular size distribution profiles were unimodal in shape, with the peaks for all divisions falling in the 0.15-0.22 mm circumference range in males and in the 0.19-0.26 mm circumference range in females. There were no significant differences in glomerular size distribution profiles for intradivision (left vs. right) comparisons. Interdivisional comparisons revealed that medial divisions had significantly lower values than caudal divisions in one of 11 glomerular circumference categories. For all remaining comparisons, there were no significant differences in glomerular size distribution profiles, nor were there any significant interdivisional differences when glomerular volume distribution profiles were compared. These data indicate that the three divisions of domestic fowl kidneys are structurally homologous on a per gram kidney weight basis, suggesting the separate divisions also are functionally homologous.