intact nephron hypothesis
Last reviewed 01/2018
In patients with chronic renal failure many of the nephrons are non-functional, however those that remain behave normally.
Normal renal homeostatic mechanisms enable:
- sodium and potassium levels to remain normal until the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) drops below 5 ml/min
- phosphate and urate levels to remain normal until the GFR drops below 20 ml/min