Excretio

n
Think , Pair , Share “What is
excretion”
Agenda for today

0 0 What is
OBJECTIVES
homeostasis?
1 2

0 What is 0 Organs of
excretion? excretion
3 4
Agenda for today

0 0 The role of the

Waste products
kidneys
5 6

0 The structure of 0 Nephron

the kidneys
7 8
0 Assessment
9
 Objectives
State that carbon dioxide is excreted through the
lungs

State that the kidneys excrete urea and excess

water and ions

Identify in diagrams and images the kidneys,

ureters,

bladder and urethra

Identify in diagrams and images the structure of

the

kidney, limited to the cortex and medulla

 Objectives
Outline the structure and function of a nephron
and its associated blood vessels, limited to:

(a) the role of the glomerulus in the filtration from

the blood of water, glucose, urea and ions

(b) the role of the nephron in the reabsorption of

all of the glucose, some of the ions and most of
the water back into the blood

(c) the formation of urine containing urea, excess

water and excess ions (details of these processes
are not required)
 02
Homeostasi
s
Keeping a constant environment around
the cells of the body
 03
What is
excretion?
The process of removing metabolic
waste from an organism.
Excretory products include urea, carbon
dioxide, excess water and salts.
04 Organs of excretion

Lungs Skin

Liver Kidneys
 Common misconceptions
Remember that faeces is not an example of excretion
– it is mainly undigested material that has passed
through the gut, but which has not been made in the
body.
The only excretory materials in it are bile pigments.
 Waste products are:

produced in the
“produced during respiration, liver during
through the lungs dissolves in deamination of which can be in
plasma and tissue fluid to excess amino acids, excess in the diet,
form a weak acid (carbonic can denature can have an effect
acid, H,CO) which can enzymes. on the water
denature enzymes and other Kidneys can excrete potential of the
proteins at high urea and excess blood.
concentrations.
Carbon water and ions
Urea Salts
dioxide
The role of the kidneys
Remove the
Carry out
toxic urea
osmoregulati
from the
on
blood Adaptation
of the
Carry out
excretion kidney to
carry out its
Regulate functions
water
content of
the blood
 The adaptation of the kidney
structure

1 2 3
Each kidney contains Each kidney has an exit
Each kidney receives a hundreds of thousands of
good supply of blood at tube, the ureter, to
tubes, the nephrons carry away the urine (a
high pressure through the (kidney tubules), that can
renal artery. solution of wastes
filter substances from the dissolved in water).
blood..
4
The kidney is under close control by a feedback
system so that water saving is always exactly
balanced to the body's needs.
The structure of the kidneys
The kidney and the nephron
The kidneys are located in the back of
the abdomen and have two important
functions in
The body:
They regulate the water content of
the blood (vital for maintaining
blood pressure)
They excrete the toxic waste products
of metabolism (such as urea) and
substances
in excess of requirements (such as
salts)
Cross section in human normal
kidney
 The functional unit the
kidney tubule “Nephron”
The contents of
the nephrons
Each kidney The nephrons
drain into the
contains around a start in the
inner most part of
million tiny cortex of the
the kidney and
structures called kidney, loop
the urine
nephrons, also down into the
collects there
known as medulla and
before it flows
kidney tubules or back up to
into the ureter to
renal tubules The cortex
be carried to the
bladder for
storage
 Component of the nephron
(a) Glomerulus – A ball of capillaries that obtains its blood supply from
an
afferent arteriole which branches off the renal artery. It drains into an
efferent arteriole.
The high pressure of the blood in the glomerulus forces water, urea, salts
and small solutes through the partially permeable endothelium into the
lumen of the Bowman’s capsule in a process known as ultrafiltration.
(b) Bowman’s capsule – The start of the tubular component of a nephron. It
surrounds the glomerulus in a cup-like structure. Together, the Bowman’s capsule
and the glomerulus make up a renal corpuscle (Malpighian corpuscle).
 Component of the nephron
(c) Proximal convoluted tubule – A convoluted tubule leading
from the
Bowman’s capsule which straightens up as it passes into the
medulla, leading into the loop of Henlé.
(d) Loop of Henlé – Consists of a descending limb, a hairpin
turn and an
ascending limb. It re-enters the cortex.
(e) Distal convoluted tubule – Convoluted portion of nephron
leading from the loop of Henlé, connecting it to the collecting
duct.
-Arterioles branch off
the renal artery
and lead to each
nephron, where
they form a knot of
capillaries (the
glomerulus) sitting
inside the cup-
shaped Bowman’s
capsule
-The capillaries get
narrower as they
get further into the
glomerulus which
increases the
pressure on the
blood moving
through them (which
is already at high
pressure because it
is coming directly
from the renal artery
which is connected
to the aorta)
-This eventually causes
the smaller molecules
being carried in the
blood to be forced out
of the capillaries and
into the Bowman’s
capsule, where they
form what is known as
the
filtrate
-This process is known as
ultrafiltration
-The substances forced out of the capillaries are:
glucose, water, urea, salts
-Some of these are useful and will be reabsorbed
back into the blood further down the nephron
The Mammalian Kidney (sumanasinc.com)
Selective reabsorption
“reabsorption of glucose”
After the glomerular filtrate
enters the Bowman's
Capsule, glucose is the
first substance to be
reabsorbed at the
proximal (first)
convoluted tubule
• This takes place by
active transport
Selective reabsorption
“reabsorption of glucose”
The nephron is adapted for this by having many mitochondria to provide
energy for the active transport of glucose molecules

• Reabsorption of glucose cannot take place anywhere else in the

nephron as the gates that facilitate the active transport of glucose are only
found in the proximal convoluted tubule• In a person with a normal blood
glucose level, there are enough gates present to remove all of the glucose
from the filtrate back into the blood

• People with diabetes cannot control their blood glucose levels and they
are often very high, meaning that not all of the glucose filtered out can be
reabsorbed into the blood in the proximal convoluted tubule
Selective reabsorption
“reabsorption of glucose”

• As there is nowhere else for the glucose to be reabsorbed, it

continues in the filtrate and ends up in the urine
• This is why one of the first tests a doctor may do to check if
someone is diabetic is to test their urine for the presence of
glucose
Reabsorption of Water and
Salts
• As the filtrate drips through
the Loop of Henle necessary
salts are reabsorbed back into
the blood by diffusion and
active transport

• As salts are reabsorbed back

into the blood, water follows by
osmosis

Water is also reabsorbed from the

collecting duct in different amounts
depending on how
much water the body needs at that
time
 Osmoregulation

The final part of each nephron, the collecting duct, removes water from the
filtered solution passing down inside the tubule and returns it to the blood.

The body can control the amount of water that is returned to the blood in this
way, and balance it with the amount of water taken in in the diet and the
amount of water lost from the body by other means.

This vital control of water balance is called osmoregulation.

Water is the most common substance in the body, and has many functions.
 Kidneys as osmoregulation
1. 1. Osmoregulation is the control of water and mineral salts in the blood.
2. 2. The water potential of blood has to be maintained for proper functioning of
the body.
3. 3. Excessive gain in water due to drinking or excessive loss due to diarrhoea
or sweating will result in a change in the water potential of blood.
4. 4. Excess water could also cause water to move into cells from tissue
fluid by osmosis. This causes the cells to swell and burst.
5. 5. Too little water would cause water to move out of the cells into
tissue fluid causing dehydration.
6. 6. Excess water could also lead to an increase in blood pressure due to an
increase in volume. This could lead to stroke.
 Kidneys as osmoregulation
1. 7. The amount of water in blood is controlled by a hormone called antidiuretic
hormone (ADH).
2. 8. ADH is produced in the hypothalamus of the brain and is stored an released
from the pituitary gland.
3. 9. The hypothalamus contains osmoreceptor cells that can monitor the water
potential of blood.
4. 10. When blood water potential decreases beyond a certain amount, th
pituitary gland is stimulated to secrete more ADH into the blood.
5. 11. ADH works on the distal convoluted tubules and the collecting ducts in the
kidneys.
6. 12. It makes the epithelium more permeable to water.
7. 13. This causes more water to be reabsorbed, producing a smaller volume o
more concentrated urine.
8. 14. The water potential of blood then returns to regular levels.
 Kidneys as osmoregulation
1. 15. When the water potential of blood increases beyond norma levels,
the osmoreceptor cells in the hypothalamus stimulate the pituitar
gland to release less ADH.
2. 16. The epithelium of the kidney tubules and collecting ducts becom
less permeable to water.
3. 17. Less water is reabsorbed resulting in a larger volume of dilute
urine.
4. 18. The water potential of blood returns to normal levels.
 The formation of urea:
1. • When you eat a food high in protein, it is digested in the
small intestine into amino acids.
2. • The villi on the walls of the small intestine absorb the
amino acids into the hepatic portal vein.
3. • Hepatic portal vein is a special vein that transports
digested material from the small intestine to the liver.
Urea excretion:
Urea is excreted by the kidney through
three processes.
1-Filtration: of soluble substances as salts, water, urea,
glucose into the kidney ( nephron)

2-Re-absorption: of useful substances as remaining

glucose, some salts and water back to blood.

3-Excretion: of remaining excess water, urea& some

salts are excreted as urine
 Kidney failure
Kidney failure may result from an
accident involving a drop in blood
pressure, or from a disease of the
kidneys or by infection
It causes the stop of nephron
working
 Two types of treatment

Kidney
Dialysis transplant
A dialysis machine is required
to replace the function of the
kidneys should the kidneys are
damaged.
 Dialysis
1. 1. The kidneys function to remove waste products, excess water and
excess mineral salts.
2. 2. A dialysis machine would have to perform the functions of a kidney.
3. 3. In dialysis, blood is passed over a dialysis membrane of a large
surface area
4. which is permeable to small molecules but does not allow proteins to
pass through.
5. 4. On the other side of the dialysis membrane is the dialysis
fluid which contains the same concentration of essential substances
as the blood plasma, with the exception of metabolic wastes.
 Dialysis
1. 5. Substances move from the blood to the dialysis fluid and
vice versa through diffusion down a concentration gradient.
2. 6. As blood flows through the tubules immersed in dialysis
fluid, metabolic waste diffuses out of the tubing into the fluid.
3. 7. Fresh dialysis fluid is continually supplied during dialysis in
order to maintain a low concentration of urea in the fluid as compared
to that in blood plasma.
4. 8. The direction of blood flow is opposite to the direction of
flow of the dialysis fluid in order to increase the length of exchange
surface with the necessary concentration gradients.
5. This is known as counter current flow.
Page 143
 The role of liver in the
excretion
1. • The liver plays a big role in maintaining the level of
protein in our body.
2. It absorbs all amino acids from the hepatic portal
vein. If the body needs proteins, they will pass
through the liver into the blood stream to be used by
the body cells to make protein.
3. • If the body does not need proteins. The liver will
absorb excess amino acids and break them down into
carbohydrates and nitrogen.
4. The formula of amino acids is CHON, here we remove
the nitrogen from the molecule, to get a
carbohydrate.
5. This is called deamination.
6. Nitrogen is made into urea which is a nitrogenous
 Excretion
by
Deaminatio
n of amino
acid
• Many digested food molecules absorbed into the blood in the small intestine are carried to the
liver for assimilation (when food molecules are converted to other molecules that the body needs)

• These include amino acids, which are used to build proteins such as fibrinogen, a protein found
in blood plasma that is important in blood clotting

• Excess amino acids absorbed in the blood that are not needed to make proteins cannot be
stored, so they are broken down in a process called deamination

• The amino group of all amino acids - NH2 (which contains the nitrogen atoms) is removed,
hence the term de-amin(o)-ation

•Enzymes in the liver split up the amino acid molecules

• The part of the molecule which contains carbon is turned into glycogen and stored

• The other part, which contains nitrogen, is turned into ammonia, which is highly toxic, and so is
immediately converted into urea, which is less toxic

• The urea dissolves in the blood and is taken to the kidney to be excreted
• A small amount is also excreted in sweat
In deamination, the nitrogen-containing amino groupis removed
and converted into ammonia and then urea to be excreted
The toxic consequences of high urea levels, if it is not excreted
effectively, are very serious:

Cell death
Reduced response to insulin, leading to diabetes
Deposits inside blood vessels
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