EXCRETION

the removal or elimination of metabolic waste from the body

OBJECTIVES
• What wastes are and why are they to be removed .
• What organs are involved in excretion
• what substances they excrete and the origin of these substances.
• The structure of the urinary system
• the kidney and the Nephron .
• The role of the kidney/ Nephron in excretion
• the processes of ultrafiltration , tubular reabsorption and tubular
excretion /secretion .
• The role of the nephron in the regulation of PH , the water balance of
the body ( Osmoregulation ) and the salt concentration of the blood .
• The role of hormones Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH) and aldosterone .
• Dialysis and Kidney transplant
• Diseases and disorders affecting kidney function
Organs in the body responsible
for excretion
• The Lungs : carbon dioxide
• The skin: sweat
• The alimentary canal: bile
• The kidney :urine
• The liver : ammonia
• The lungs : The lungs excrete carbon dioxide along with water ( in a
form of water vapour)
• The alimentary canal: excretes bile pigments which are formed from
dead red blood cells that are broken down in the spleen and in the
liver .
• The skin: excretes sweat , which is composed of water , salts and
urea (nitrogenous end product of the metabolic breakdown of
proteins)
• The liver: It breaks down excess amino acids and convert them to
ammonia. Ammonia which is then converted to urea. Urea and
ammonia are both Nitrogenous waste products.
• The kidneys: excretes urine which is composed of water, salts and
nitrogenous waste such as urea and ammonia
 The urinary system
(The two kidneys, two ureters, bladder and urethra)

• The main organs of the urinary system are the kidneys.

• Humans have two kidneys on the right side and left side of the body.
• The right kidney is slightly lower than the left kidney
• The kidneys are covered and protected by a fat layer - Capsule
• The kidney receive oxygenated blood from the aorta via the renal
arteries
• Renal veins carry deoxygenated blood from the kidney to the
inferior vena cava
• A narrow tube called the ureter transports urine from each kidney
to the bladder .
• The bladder is a bag responsible for temporary storage of urine
• The urine passes out of the body through Urethra.
• The urethra is closed and opened by sphincter muscles and allows
urine out of the body for final elimination.
Four main functions of the
kidney
• Osmoregulation – regulation of levels of H2O in body fluids
• Excretion – removal of nitrogenous waste e.g. urea
• Regulation of pH of body fluids
• Regulation of salt concentration of body fluids
The structure of the kidney
The nephron and its blood
supply
The microscopic functional unit of the kidney
• Nephrons are microscopic coiled structures made up of tubes,
arterioles, capillaries and ducts. Each human kidney has about 1
million nephrons.
• Their main function is to filter the blood, regulate the waste, water
and other important substances the body needs.
The nephron consists of:
• Cup shaped Bowman’s capsule
• Proximal convoluted tubule
• Loop of Henle
• Distal convoluted tubule
• Collecting duct
The functions of nephron in
excretion
• Blood is filtered when it flows through the glomerulus in a process
called ultrafiltration
• The liquid called filtrate passes through the Bowman’s capsule and
travels through the nephron
• Some of the components are reabsorbed back into the blood through
tubular reabsorption (active transport)
• The waste substances are added to filtrate in the process tubular
excretion
• The liquid that leaves the nephron via the collecting duct is the urine
• The Bowman’s capsule contains a network of capillaries called the
glomerulus
• The Bowman’s capsule and glomerulus together are called Malpighian
body
• The renal artery divides into afferent arteriole leading to glomerulus
capsule
• Blood is then transported away from the glomerulus capsule via
efferent arteriole
• They branch in a network of capillaries that form venules that carry
deoxygenated blood to the renal vein
Three processes that take place in
the nephron
1. Glomerular filtration (ultrafiltration)
2. Tubular reabsorption
3. Tubular excretion
 Glomerular filtration
(ultrafiltration)
• Takes place in the Malpighian body
• Blood enters the glomerular from renal artery in the afferent arteriole
• The blood leaves the glomerular in the efferent arteriole
• Blood plasma from blood passes through the walls of glomerulus
and collects in the capsule
• The blood cells and proteins are too large to pass through the walls
and they remain behind
Adaptation of Malpighian body
for the process of ultrafiltration
• The afferent arteriole is wider than the efferent arteriole so the blood in the
glomerulus is at higher pressure.
• The pressure forces blood out of the glomerulus into the bowman’s capsule
• There is large filtration surface area due to numerous capillaries that form
the glomerulus
• The capillary walls are thin and have tiny pores in them. This means that
blood plasma can pass through easily but not the larger plasma proteins
• The inner walls of the Bowman’s capsule is made up of specialized cells
called podocytes. The podocytes form filtration slits that allows only blood
plasma to pass through.
 Tubular reabsorption
• Takes place in the proximal convoluted tubule
• The blood forms about 180 liters of filtrate everyday, but only 1-4 liters of
urine is formed
• So what happens to the filtrate that does not give rise to urine?
• As the filtrate passes along the nephron, useful substances (glucose, amino
acids, vitamins and other important substances) are reabsorbed back into
the blood, along with most water.
• This process is called tubular reabsorption
• The substances pass through the walls of the proximal convoluted tubules
mostly by active transport (glucose and amino acids) and osmosis (water
~65%)
 Adaptation of proximal convoluted
tubule for tubular reabsorption
• The walls of the proximal convoluted tubules are thin
• The cells forming the proximal convoluted tubules have many
microvilli
• The microvilli increases surface area for reabsorption
• The cells forming the proximal convoluted tubule contains many
mitochondria
• the mitochondria provides cells with the energy that they need for
active transport
The loop of Henle function in tubular
re-absorption
• The Loop of Henle ensures that water is conserved and recovered
from the filtrate and returned to the blood.
• The cells lining the ascending loop of Henle are impermeable (block
movement) to water
• Salt is actively pumped out of the loop and into the medulla tissue of
the kidney
• The medulla becomes hypertonic (very salty) 215 which means it has
a low water potential (water does not want to leave)
 Tubular excretion
• Takes place in the Distal convoluted tubule
• As the filtrate passes along the nephron , additional waste is added to
it from the blood
• Tubular secretion involves the active removal of unnecessary
substances from the blood
• Substances removed includes: creatinine, ammonia, potassium ions
(K+ ), hydrogen ions (H+ ), sodium ions (Na+ ), bicarbonate ions ,drugs
e.g. penicillin
 Formation of urine
• As the filtrate passes along the nephron the wastes become concentrated
(contains less water)
• This is done by Loop of Henle by pumping sodium ions
• The liquid that flows out of the nephron into the collecting duct is called
Urine.
• The collecting ducts join up to form larger ducts of Bellini and then the
major calyces of the kidney.
• From here the urine leaves the kidney and passes into the renal pelvis in
the ureter .
• From the ureter the urine will pass into the urethra for final elimination