Kidneys and

Excretion

The body must rid itself of the

waste products of cellular activity,
some of which can be deadly.
Metabolic wastes include:
-Excess water and salts,
-Carbon dioxide from cellular
respiration,
-Nitrogenous compounds like
ammonia, urea and uric acid from
the breakdown of proteins and
nucleic acids,
-Excess ions such as Na+, Cl- and H+
2

The process by which metabolic

wastes are separated from body fluids
and removed from the body is called
EXCRETION.
-We often consume more protein than
is needed, so our body must convert it
to carbohydrates for storage.
-Proteins are made up of amino acids,
and unlike fats and carbohydrates
they contain Nitrogen.
3

Deamination

In order to convert
proteins to carbohydrates,
proteins are broken down
into amino acids and the
nitrogen and two
hydrogen molecules are
removed in a process
called deamination. This
occurs in the liver and the
byproduct is Ammonia.

Ammonia is a toxic,
water soluble gas:
0.005mg can kill
you!!!

Amino
Acid

Carbohydrate

In the liver, ammonia is combined

with carbon dioxide to produce the
less deadly waste products: Urea
and Uric acid.

2 NH3 + CO2 H2O +

(NH2)2CO
-urea

The skin, lungs, and

kidneys along with their
associated organs make up
the excretory system.

-The SKIN excretes excess water and salts, and a

small amount of urea. (Sweat and Urine are
almost the same composition, just different
concentrations)
-The LUNGS excrete most of the carbon dioxide.
-The KIDNEYS excrete the Nitrogenous Wastes.
The excretion of Water is necessary to dissolve
wastes, and is closely regulated by the kidneys,
the main organ of the urinary system.
7

The Urinary System

THE MAIN ORGANS OF

THE EXCRETORY
SYSTEM ARE THE
KIDNEYS.
We have Two BEAN-SHAPPED
Kidneys, one on each side of the
spinal cord near the lower back, one
behind the Stomach the other
behind the Liver. Together they
regulate the chemical composition of
blood.
9

Two blood vessels, the renal

artery and renal vein, enter
and leave each kidney.
Waste-laden blood enters the
kidney through the Renal
Artery.
Excess water, Urea, and other
waste products are removed
from the blood and are
collected in the Ureter.
The Filtered Blood exits through
the Renal Vein.
A Third Vessel, the Ureter,
leaves each kidney carrying
fluid to the Urinary
bladder where urine is
stored.

10

Vessels of the Kidney

11

1.

The bladder can hold about 600mL

of liquid, and once full, urine is
expelled via the Urethra. In males,
the urethra is a common pathway
for sperm and urine.

12

KIDNEY STRUCTURE

The Kidney has

THREE Regions;
-the Inner part called
the Renal medulla,
-the Outer part called
the Renal cortex
-and the Renal
pelvis, a funnel
shaped structure in
the center of the
kidney.
13

The Renal pelvis is a hollow chamber

that connects the kidney with the
Ureter.
The Renal Cortex is made of
connective tissue and contains the
Nephrons, (the basic functional
unit of the kidneys)
The white pin
is in the Renal
Cortex. The
yellow pin is in
the Renal
Medulla. The
pink pin is in
the Renal
Pelvis. The
green pin
14 is in

Read pages 304 308 in your text

books.
Do Question 1-7 found throughout
pages 306 -310
Do the structure/function worksheet
included in your note package

15

The Nephron

Each nephron is a small,

independent filtering unit. Each
kidney contains one million
microscopic nephrons

16

Electron Microscope view of

internal Kidney structure

17

Nephron in Kidney

18

Nephrons filter water and solutes

from blood.
Most of the Filtrate is reclaimed
from them and returned to the
blood. The rest form an amber
colored liquid called URINE, which
enters tube-like collecting ducts.
These lead to the kidneys central
cavity and the entrance to a ureter.

19

Each Nephron has its own blood

supply and its own collecting tubule,
which leads to the Ureter
-Blood enters a Nephron through the
Afferent Arteriole, (a small branch
of the renal artery) impurities are
filtered out and emptied into the
collecting tubule.
-Purified blood leaves the nephron
through the Efferent Arteriole
20

Blood supply of each

Nephron

21

Nephron Anatomy
(please copy into your notes)
Glomerulus- a microscopic glob of
capillaries with greater than normal
pressure because of size discrepancy
between afferent and efferent arterioles
Bowmans Capsule- A cuplike
structure that collects the leaking fluids
forced out of the glomerulous and
sends it into the proximal convoluted
tubule
22

Renal Tubule of the

Nephron
(please copy into your notes)
Proximal Convoluted Tubule - A thin,
hollow tube. Here is where most of the
water and many dissolved particles are
reabsorbed back into the blood by both
diffusion and active transport.
Loop of Henle- by actively pumping out
NaCl this creates a salty, hypertonic extracellular fluid so that if necessary, water
can be drawn out of the loop of Henle and
collecting duct.
23

(please copy into your notes)

Distal convoluted tubule - here is
where various toxins, waste products
and even some drugs can be moved by
active transport from the blood into the
nephron
Collecting duct- the fluid that leaves
the collecting duct constitutes urine.
Inside this tubule, most of the last of the
water is reabsorbed back into the blood
stream. The remaining urine empties
into the renal pelvis and drains down the
uretes into the urinary bladder.
24

Nephron Structure

The Glomerulus,
Bowmans capsule,
and the Efferent
and Afferent
arterioles are
located in the
cortex of the
kidney.

25

Purification of Blood by the

Kidneys
The

process of Blood
Purification and the formation
of urine involves Three
Separate Processes:
Glomerular Filtration,
Tubular reabsorption and
Tubular secretion.
26

Glomerular Filtration

When blood enters a

nephron, it flows into a
balled up network of
microscopic capillaries
known as a
Glomerulus (Latinmeaning little ball).
The Glomerulus is
encased in the upper
end of the nephron by
a cup-shaped structure
called Bowmans
Capsule.
27

The blood is under pressure and the

walls of the capillaries and
Bowman's Capsule are permeable.
Much of the fluid from the blood
filters into Bowman's Capsule

28

The material filtered from the blood

flows through a portion of the
nephron called the Renal Tubule, (a
long tube with semi-permeable
walls).
The Bowmans Capsule is connected
to the renal tubule. The Renal
Tubule consists of three parts: The
Proximal Convoluted Tubule, The
Loop of Henle, and the Distal
Convoluted Tubule
29

Renal Tubule and

Bowmans Capsule Make up
the Nephron

30

Filtrate

The materials that are filtered from

the blood are known as FILTRATE.
The Filtrate contains water, urea,
glucose, salts, amino acids, and
vitamins. Plasma proteins, cells and
platelets are too large to pass
through the membrane of the
Bowmans capsule; they remain in
the blood.
31

Proximal Tubule:

Most of the materials removed from

the blood at Bowman's Capsule
makes its way back into the blood by
a process known as Tubular
REABSORPTION.

32

About 2000L of blood pass through the

kidneys every day and approx. 180 liters
of filtrate pass from the blood into the
collecting tubules each day.
Not all of this is excreted. (If this were
the case you would have to drink 1 L of
water every 10 mins to maintain water
balance!!) .
Approximately 99 percent of the water
that is filtered into the Bowman's
Capsule is reabsorbed back into the
blood.
33

Reabsorption proceeds along the Nephrons

tubular parts occurring by both passive and
active transport.
** Glucose and Na+ are returned to the
blood by Active Transport.
** Cl- and HCO3- follow the positive charge
of sodium
Most reabsorption occurs in the Proximal
Tubule. In this region, about 75 percent of
the water in the filtrate returns to the
capillaries by osmosis (Passive transport).
Some additional reabsorption occurs in the
distal Convoluted Tubule.
34

Tubular Reabsorption in the

Proximal convoluted Tubule

Sodium, Glucose and

other solutes are
actively transported
from inside the
tubule back into the
blood.
Water and other
negatively charged
ions follow the
positively charged
sodium by osmosis
35

36

Loop of Henle:

The function of the

loop of Henle is to
reabsorb water and
ions from the
glomerular filtrate
back into the blood.
As glomerular filtrate
descends into the
medulla region of the
kidney it encounters
an increasingly salty
environment.
37

The walls of the descending limb of

the loop of Henle are permeable to
water but much less permeable to
salt.
The salty environment of the
medulla draws water by osmosis out
of the nephron and back into the
blood.

38

The filtrate at the bottom of the loop

of Henle is at its maximum solute
concentration. As the filtrate
continues into the ascending loop,
the walls of the tubule change in
structure and permeability. The
walls of the ascending Loop of Henle
become impermeable to water and
permeable to solutes.

39

Distal Tubule:

The material that remains in the distal

convoluted tubule is still called filtrate,
and consists of EXCESS salts, water, and
urea.
(Please copy into notes)
Active Reabsorption of sodium ions, and
passive reabsorption of Bicarbonate and
chlorine ions, and water continues. This
depends on the needs of the body and is
regulated by hormones.
40

Tubular Secretion: From

blood into The Tubule

When the filtrate reaches the distal

Convoluted Tubule, some additional
substances pass from the blood into the
filtrate through a process called
SECRETION.
These substance include nitrogenous
wastes, hydrogen ions, potassium ions,
some drugs (eg. penicillin) and other toxic
materials.
The pH of the blood is adjusted by
hydrogen ions that are secreted from the
blood into the filtrate.
41

Tubular reabsorption in the

Collecting Duct:

Whats left of the Filtrate passes from the distal

convoluted tubule to the collecting tubule of the
nephron.
The filtrate still contains a lot of water. The collecting
tubule descends once again into the medulla of the
kidney where the surrounding tissue is salty.
This draws more water out of the filtrate in the
collecting duct by osmosis, and further concentrates
the urine.
(Please add to notes) The reabsorption of water
causes the filtrate to become about 4 times more
concentrated and only about 1% of the original
filtrate volume remains this is now called Urine.
42

Urine Formation
Summarized

43

44

Urine from the millions of collecting

ducts flows through the renal Pelvis
and into a narrow tube called a
URETER.
A ureter leads from each kidney to
the URINARY BLADDER. Urine is
collected in the urinary bladder and
stored until it can be released
through the URETHRA.

45

Male and Female Urinary

Bladder and Urethra

Female

Male

46

Nephron In review:

Glomerulus/Bowmans Capsule Filter blood

Proximal Convoluted tubule- Most filtrate is
reabsorbed back into blood
Descending Loop of Henle Permeable to water.
Reabsorption of water due to osmosis
Ascending Loop of Henle Not permeable to water.
Sodium is actively pumped out and chlorine follows
Distal convoluted Tubule- Tubular secretion; some
substances pass from blood into tubule. Some
reabsorption of hydrogen ions.
Collecting duct Further concentrates urine by
secreting more water
47

Regulation of Kidney
Function:

The amount of water reabsorbed from

the filtrate back into the blood influences
2 characteristics of blood: its volume and
its plasma solute concentration.
The solute concentration of the blood
and its volume must remain constant
despite changes in environmental
conditions (amount of water consumed,
amount of salt, amount of perspiration
etc)
48

Special receptors called

Osmoreceptors, found in the
hypothalamus of the brain, pick up
changes in solute concentration of
the blood.
If you are dehydrated the
osmoreceptors send a signal to the
pituitary gland. In response, the
pituitary gland releases a hormone
called AntiDiuretic Hormone (ADH)
(Also known as Vasopressin)
49

ADH travels to the distal tubule and

the collecting duct of the nephron.
ADH causes these tubules to
become more permeable to
water.
In the influence of ADH more water
will be absorbed back into the blood,
diluting it and retaining water in
times of water loss.

50

The reverse occurs if blood solute

concentration is too low. ADH
secretions are prevented and more
water is excreted in the urine.
Alcohol and caffeine act as Diuretics
and block ADH release. These
substances decrease the
permeability of the tubules to water
and cause more water to be excreted
in urine.
51

ADH (Vasopressin)

Osmoreceptors in Hypothalamus detect high solute concentration in blo

Pituitary gland receives message from hypothalamus

and Secretes ADH

ADH Increases permeability of tubule walls to

water, so water is able to travel back into the blood
from the nephron, urine becomes more
concentrated
Blood becomes more diluted, ADH
production is stopped
52

Aldosterone

Aldosterone is another hormone that

affects reabsorption.
Aldosterone is produced by the kidney
and affects the permeability of the
tubules to Sodium, Potassium and
Chlorine.
By reabsorbing these ions, an osmotic
gradient gets set up and water
passively follows back into the blood.
53

The kidneys regulate blood pressure

by changing the volume of blood.
Special receptors at the Glomerulus
called juxtaglomerular apparatus
(JGA) detect blood pressure.

54

If too much fluid is lost and blood

volume goes down so does blood
pressure. The JGA picks up the low
blood pressure and releases an
enzyme called renin.
Renin changes the inactive protein
angiotensinogen into the active
hormone angiotensin.

55

Reabsorption of Salts due

to Aldosterone influence on
tubules

Angiotensin causes the kidney to

release aldosterone and causes to
vasoconstriction of the blood vessels.
Aldosterone causes reabsorption of
sodium which leads to more water
entering the blood which increases
blood volume.
Vasoconstriction causes the diameter
of the blood vessels to decrease which
also cause blood pressure to increase.
56

Low BP picked up by JGA

Release Renin
angiotensinogen turned to
angiotensin
BP increased by
vasoconstriction and
Aldosterone secretions
increase blood volume which
57
also increases BP.

Micturition (urination)

At least 500 mL (17 oz) of urine must

be eliminated every day because this
amount of fluid is needed to remove
potential toxic materials from the
body to maintain homeostasis.
A normal adult eliminates from 1.5 L
to 2.3 L of Urine a DAY, Depending on
the amount of water taken in and the
amount of water lost through
respiration and perspiration.
58

Micturition (urination)
1. Urine leaves the bladder because of the micturation reflex.

2. Stretching of the urinary bladder triggers the micturation

reflex
center; located in the sacral portion of the spinal cord.
3. Return parasympathetic impulses cause waves of muscle
contractions, and an urge to urinate is sensed.
4. When these contractions become strong enough, the internal
urethral sphincter is forced open and urine enters the urethra.
5. The external urethral sphincter is under conscious control
(most of the time!!).

59

Urinary Disorders

Dehydration - If the kidneys are not

functioning properly they will not
reabsorb water properly and your
body will begin losing more water
than it can replace. Diuretics such as
coffee, tea and alcohol can start
dehydration. Not consuming enough
water, Diarrhea and vomiting can
also cause dehydration.
60

Kidney Stones

Some substances such as uric acid and calcium

and calcium phosphates are not completely
dissolved in water. Normally in such an
instance, the solid particles are not noticed as
they are excreted in such small quantities and
are likely coated with special proteins to keep
them from growing into larger particles. In
some people this coating is not working and the
solids group into stone-like sizes which are
called kidney stones. Formation of these stones
can be extremely painful
61

Kidney Stones

62

Gout

A build up of Uric Acid in the blood

(hyperuricimia) caused the uric acid
to crystallize in the joints. Extreme
pain and swelling results

63

Diabetes Insipidus

Is a disease in which ADH

production is lower than it should
be. The individuals kidneys are not
getting the orders to re-collect the
water from the urine. As a result,
the volume of released by urination
greatly increases, and is
accompanied with large amounts of
glucose
64

Urinary Tract infections

(infections of the bladder or
urethra)

Caused by viruses and bacteria

entering the urinary tract causing
inflammation, burning pain and
frequent urination. Much more
common in Females because urethra
is much shorter and in much closer
proximity to anal opening. Treated
with antibiotics in most cases.
65

Kidney Dialysis: If the

Kidneys Fail

Blood is pumped out of the body into porous tubes

made of semipermiable membranes. These tubes
pass through a solution that is designed to draw
waste products out of the blood by diffusion.
Wastes concentrated in the blood move into the
water bath, essentially cleaning the blood.
Using the same principal, other substances can be
added to the water bath in concentrations grater
than the blood so that they can be moved into the
blood if needed (eg. Bicarbonate ions can be
added to act as a buffer if the blood is too acidic).

66

Dialysis

67

Dialysis allows people to live with the loss of

kidney function but these people must go to
the hospital on a daily or semi weekly basis.
If a person loses more than 90% of their
kidney function the will have to get a kidney
transplant. Kidney transplant success rates
are very high (about 96%) but there are very
few registered donors.
High blood pressure is the leading cause of
kidney failure. High blood pressure can
cause the delicate filters of the nephrons to
become damaged. High blood pressure is
directly related to exercise, diet and obesity.
68