Renal glucose reabsorption is the part of kidney (renal) physiology that deals with the retrieval of filtered

glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...

, preventing it from disappearing from the body through the urine. If glucose is not reabsorbed by the kidney, it appears in the urine, in a condition known as

glycosuria Glycosuria is the excretion of glucose into the urine. Ordinarily, urine contains no glucose because the kidneys are able to reabsorb all of the filtered glucose from the tubular fluid back into the bloodstream. Glycosuria is nearly always caused ...

. This is associated with

diabetes mellitus Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

.Sect. 7, Ch. 6: Characteristics of Proximal Glucose Reabsorption
Firstly, the glucose in the proximal tubule is co-transported with sodium ions into the proximal convoluted tubule walls via the

SGLT2 The sodium/glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the (solute carrier family 5 (sodium/glucose cotransporter)) gene. Function SGLT2 is a member of the sodium glucose cotransporter family, which are sodium-d ...

cotransporter. Some (typically smaller) amino acids are also transported in this way. Once in the tubule wall, the glucose and amino acids diffuse directly into the blood capillaries along a concentration gradient. This blood is flowing, so the gradient is maintained. Lastly, sodium/potassium ion active transport pumps remove sodium from the tubule wall and the sodium is put back into the blood. This maintains a sodium concentration gradient in the proximal tubule lining, so the first step continues to happen.

Gliflozin SGLT2 inhibitors, also called gliflozins or flozins, are a class of medications that modulate sodium-glucose transport proteins in the nephron (the functional units of the kidney), unlike SGLT1 inhibitors that perform a similar function in the int ...

s such as

canagliflozin Canagliflozin, sold under the brand name Invokana among others, is a medication used to treat type 2 diabetes. It is a third-line medication to be tried after metformin, a first-line medication for type 2 diabetes. It is used together with exe ...

inhibit renal glucose reabsorption, and are used in

to lower blood glucose.

Overview table

References

{{renal physiology Renal physiology