Excretion

What is Excretion?
Includes processes that remove wastes and excess materials from the body.
What are the ways of excretion?
1. Digestive system: excretes food residues and wastes produced by the liver.
2. Respiratory system (lungs): excretes carbon dioxide
3. Integumentary system (skin): excretes water, salts
4. Urinary system (kidneys): excretes nitrogenous wastes, excess solutes, and water.
What are the parts of The Urinary System?
1) 2 kidneys 2) 2 ureters 3) Urinary bladder 4) Urethra
What are the parts of The Kidney?
1. Cortex: outer portion of the kidney.
2. Medulla: inner portion of the kidney.
3. Renal pelvis: hollow space in center of kidney where urine
collects.
What are the Functions of the kidney?
1. Waste excretion: The kidneys filter out toxins, excess salts, and urea.
2. Water level balancing: As water intake decreases, the kidneys leave water in the body
instead of helping excrete it.
3. Blood pressure regulation: kidneys increase the pressure by releasing a protein
(angiotensin) that also signals the body to retain sodium and water.
4. Red blood cell regulation: When the kidneys don’t get enough oxygen, they secrete
erythropoietin (a hormone that stimulates the bone marrow to produce more oxygen-
carrying red blood cells).
What are the kidneys layers?
1. The renal fascia (the outermost layer)
2. The perirenal fat capsule
3. The innermost layer, the renal capsule.
What are other structure of the kidney?
1. Renal hilus: Area of the kidney which the ureter leaves the kidney and the other
structures including blood vessels, lymphatic
2. Renal capsule: smooth, fibrous membrane that surrounds and protects the kidney.

What Nephrons?
 1. Nephron: it is the functional unit of the kidney.
2. 1 million nephrons per kidney.
3. Each nephron consists of a long thin hollow tube (tubule) plus associated blood
supply.
4. Function of nephrons: remove about 180 liters of fluid from the blood daily, and
return most of it, minus the wastes that are excreted.
What are the parts of Nephron structure?
a) Glomerular capsule: cuplike end of nephron tubule surrounding glomerulus (network of
capillaries)—this is where filtration occurs.
b) Four distinct regions of tubules:
1. Proximal convoluted tubule
2. Descending loop of Henle
3. Ascending loop of Henle
4. Distal convoluted tubule
5. Collecting duct
What are the stages of urine formation?
1. Glomerular filtration: movement of protein-free solution of fluid and solutes from
blood into the glomerular capsule.
2. Tubular reabsorption: return of most of the fluid and solutes into the blood.
3. Tubular secretion: addition of certain solutes from the blood into the tubule.
What is Micturition?
Process by which the urinary bladder empties when it becomes filled.

What is the Composition of urine?

1. Urine is an aqueous solution of greater than 95% water.
2. Other constituents include urea, chloride, sodium, potassium, creatinine and other
dissolved ions, and inorganic and organic compounds.