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Excretion
Excretion
The process by which metabolic waste products and toxic materials are removed from the body of an
organism.
Metabolism
The sum total of all the chemical reactions taking place in living cells in order to keep an
organism alive.
Metabolism = Catabolism + Anabolism
Catabolism
Chemical reactions in which complex substances are broken down into simpler ones.
Eg. Tissue respiration:
o C
6
H
12
O
6
+ 6O
2
6H
2
O +6CO
2
+ 2898 kJ
Eg. Deamination of proteins and amino acids
Anabolism
Chemical reactions in which simpler molecules are built up into complex substances.
Eg. Photosynthesis
Eg. Formation of new proteins from amino acids
Eg. Conversion of glucose into glycogen in the liver and muscles
Importance of Excretion
Metabolic reactions produce waste products which are harmful if accumulated in the body.
Kidneys
Contains a lot of nephrons which remove urea and excess water and heat from the blood to
form urine
Responsible for osmoregulation
Ureter
Narrow tube through which urine flows from each kidney to the urinary bladder (by peristalsis)
Urinary bladder
A hollow, distensible muscular bag which stores urine temporarily
Renal pelvis
The enlarged portion of the ureter inside the kidney
Sphincter muscle
Contracts or relaxes to control the flow of urine into the urethra
Urethra
Duct through which urine flows from the bladder to the exterior
Kidneys
A pair of dark red, bean-shaped organs embedded in a mass of fat in the abdominal cavity
They are attached to the dorsal body wall, one on each side of the vertebral column.
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The left kidney is slightly higher than the right one.
Structure of a Kidney Tubule The Nephron
The functional unit of the kidney.
About 1 million of them in each kidney.
Each is about 3 cm long









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Kidney Tubule - The Nephron
Each kidney tubule (nephron) begins in the cortex as a cup-like structure called the renal
(Bowmans) capsule.
The capsule leads into the first (proximal) convoluted tubule.
It then straightens out as it passes into the medulla, make a U-turn and passes back into the
cortex where it becomes coiled again (second or distal convoluted tubule).
It then opens into a collecting tubule/duct and eventually opens into the renal pelvis.
The U-shaped portion of the tubule in the medulla is known as the loop of Henle.
Blood enters the kidney by the renal artery which gives off numerous branches or arterioles.
Each branch breaks up into a mass of blood capillaries in the renal capsule.
This mass of blood capillaries is called the glomerulus.
The renal capsule with its glomerulus is called the renal / Malpighian corpuscle.
Blood leaving the glomerulus enters blood capillaries surrounding the tubule.
These blood capillaries then unite to form venules, which in turn join to form a branch of the
renal vein.
Blood enters the kidney via the renal artery
How blood enters the kidney tubule
Blood enters the kidney via the renal artery
Renal artery branches into many arterioles
Arterioles further divide into a mass of blood capillaries (glomerulus)
Blood leaves Malpighian corpuscle and enters tubule
Blood capillaries unite to form venules
Venules join to form renal vein
Blood exits the kidney via the renal vein

Urine Formation
Two main processes are involved:
Ultrafiltration of small molecules from the blood.
Selective reabsorption of useful materials.
A. Ultrafiltration
Blood passes from the renal artery into the glomeruli in the renal capsules.
Mechanical filtration occurs in each glomerulus.
Blood plasma is forced out of the glomerular blood capillaries into the renal capsule.
The afferent arteriole that brings blood into the glomerulus is wider than the efferent arteriole
that carries blood away.
A high pressure is built up in the glomerulus, squeezing the blood through two living
membranes: the capillary wall of the glomerulus (partially permeable membrane) and the inner
wall of the renal capsule.
It is this blood pressure that provides the main force required for the filtration process.
Why is it called Ultrafiltration?
It is caused by very high blood pressure.
The membrane around the glomerular blood capillaries is like a very fine filter.
Only very small molecules are filtered off the blood. These include water, mineral salts, glucose
and urea.
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Most proteins and fats are too big, so they stay in the blood, together with the blood cells.
Ultrafiltration
In human, the kidneys filter about 60 litres of blood an hour, and it takes only 5 minutes to filter
an amount which is equal to the bodys entire blood supply (5 litres).
The filtration process produces about 7.5 litres of glomerulus filtrate an hour, and this liquid
contains not only urea, but many useful substances (e.g. glucose).
If all of this is excreted, the body would lose most of its water and soluble food supplies in a few
hours.
However, this does not happen because 99% of the filtrate is reabsorbed.
B. Selective Reabsorption
This takes place in the kidney tubules / nephrons.
The useful materials are taken back into the blood stream through the capillaries which
surround the tubules.
Selective Reabsorption
Excess water, mineral salts, and nitrogenous wastes (e.g. urea, uric acid and creatinine) pass out of the
collecting duct into the renal pelvis as urine.
Composition of urine (PER 100 CM
3
)
Water 96.0g
Mineral salts (mainly sodium chloride) 1.8g
Urea 2.0g
Other nitrogenous substances 0.2g
Total 100.0g

Varies depending on several factors:
Rich protein diet higher content of urea
Heavy sugary food in the diet some sugar in urine
Larger intake of fluid urine lighter in colour ; more urine
Cold weather (less sweat) more urine
Salty food in the diet excess salt excreted in urine
Abnormal situation
Sugar diabetes (diabetes mellitus) large amounts of glucose in urine
Kidneys as Osmoregulators
The water potential of the blood has to be kept relatively constant.
If the blood plasma is too dilute, water will enter the blood cells by osmosis and the blood cells
will swell and burst.
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If the blood plasma is too concentrated, water will leave the blood cells by osmosis and the
blood cells will become dehydrated and shrink (may be fatal).
The water potential of the blood depends on the amount of water and salts in the plasma.
Kidneys help to regulate the water or salt concentration in the blood, thus maintaining a
constant water potential in the body.
Osmoregulation by kidneys an example of Homeostasis
If the water content of the blood is lower than usual (eg. through heavy perspiration), the
additional quantities of water needed are taken in through the tubule. How?
Hypothalamus of the brain produces vasopressin or antidiuretic hormone (ADH).
Dehydration of the body is detected by the hypothalamus.
The pituitary gland is stimulated to release ADH into bloodstream to increase the water
reabsorption by the kidney tubules.
Water content of the blood is thus restored.
Urine production drops and urine becomes more concentrated.
If the blood becomes too diluted (eg. large intake of water), the secretion of ADH is inhibited.
The tubules will reabsorb less water.
Urine production increases and urine becomes less concentrated.
Summary of the Kidney Functions
Excretion of metabolic wastes, especially the nitrogenous wastes (e.g. urea), & excess water,
mineral salts.
Regulation of composition of the blood plasma by the selective reabsorption of useful
substances (salts and water) along the kidney tubules.
Regulating the water content
Regulating the salt content.
If there is too much sodium chloride in the plasma, less of them is reabsorbed from the
glomerulus filtrate.
Regulating the pH of the blood to be around pH 7.3 to 7.4 by the exchange of ions when the
acidity or alkalinity of the blood tends to rise.
Kidney Failure
High blood pressure and diabetes are common causes of kidney failures.
A person can still lead a normal life if only one kidney fails to function.
But if both kidneys fail to work, urea and other wastes will accumulate in the blood. The patient
can die unless prompt medical treatment is given.
Treatment: Dialysis or kidney transplant.
Dialysis or Kidney Machine
What the kidney performs by ultrafiltration and selective reabsorption, a kidney machine
performs in one step diffusion.
Blood is drawn from an artery in the patients arm and allowed to be pumped through the
tubing in the dialysis machine.
The tubing is bathed in a dialysis fluid which contains the same concentration of essential
substances (e.g. mineral salts) as the blood, but without metabolic waste products.
The walls of the tubing are partially permeable.
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Substances pass from a higher concentration to a lower concentration along a concentration
gradient through this membrane
Since there is no urea, uric acid and creatinine in the dialysis fluid, they diffuse out of the tubing
into the dialysis fluid. Excess water and mineral salts also diffuse out of the tubing. These waste
products are thus removed from the blood.
Big molecules like proteins and blood cells remain in the blood.
Dialysis or Kidney Machine
Other points to take note:
The tubing is narrow, long and coiled to increase the surface area to volume ratio. This speeds
up the rate of exchange of substances between the blood and the dialysis fluid.
The direction of blood flow is opposite to the flow of the dialysis fluid. This maintains the
concentration/diffusion gradient for the removal of waste products.
The filtered blood is then returned to a vein in the patients arm.
The patient needs to be treated about 2-3 times a week. Each treatment takes several hours.
Exchange of Substances between the Blood and the Dialysis Fluid






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How Is Blood Cleaned in a Dialysis Machine?

Excretion