13

IGCSE BIOLOGY

Excretion in Humans
 Syllabus Statements
• State that urea is formed in the liver from excess
amino acids
• State that carbon dioxide is excreted through the
lungs
• State that the kidneys excrete urea and excess
water and salts
• Explain the need for excretion, limited to toxicity
of urea and carbon dioxide
 What are the five major waste
products produced by your cells?
• Carbon Dioxide
• Water
• Salts (minerals)
• Urea
• Heat
 What is excretion?
• The removal of metabolic wastes
produced by the body cells

How is excretion different from egestion?

• Egestion – the removal of the wastes of
digestion – FAECES
 Types of metabolic wastes
Wastes Produced from
Carbon Dioxide Aerobic Respiration
Water Aerobic Respiration
Salts Metabolic activities
Nitrogenous wastes Breakdown of excess
Amino Acids & Proteins

Types of nitrogenous wastes Toxicity

Ammonia (NH3) Highly Toxic
Urea Moderately Toxic
Uric Acid Crystals Minimally Toxic
 Soluble vitamins
Nitrogen waste

Mineral salts Excretory

Products

Bile salts and Excess water

pigments
Carbon dioxide
and water
 How is the circulatory system
connected to excretory system?
 How is the circulatory system
connected to excretory system?

Answer: circulatory system transports

metabolic wastes from body cells to various
excretory organs
 Human excretory organs

Main Accessory
excretory excretory
organs organs

Skin
Lungs
Kidneys (sweat Liver
(alveoli)
glands)

Metabolic wastes and what they are removed by:

– CO2- lungs,
– H2O - skin, kidney, lungs
– salts - skin, kidney
– ammonia - liver
– urea – excreted by kidney, formed in liver from excess a.a.
Waste removal
Several organs are important in removing waste from the body.

The lungs remove

The liver
carbon dioxide.
converts excess
protein into urea.
The skin provides
a surface for small
amounts of water The kidneys
and salt to move remove unwanted
out of the body. substances such
as urea, excess
water and salt.

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 How does the Skin aid in the
removal of wastes?

• Sweat: removal of
water, salt, and
heat
• ~2 to 5 million
sweat glands

Sweat Gland Blood Vessels

 How do the Lungs aid in the
removal of wastes?
• Exhalation
• Excretes water, CO2, and heat
 Syllabus Statements
Excretion in humans
• Describe the role of the liver in the assimilation of
amino acids by converting them to proteins,
including plasma proteins, e.g. fibrinogen
• Define deamination as the removal of the
nitrogen-containing part of amino acids to form
urea
How does the LIVER aid in
the removal of wastes?
• Produces urea from
breaking down amino
acids (ammonia to
urea)
Definition: the removal of nitrogen-containing
part of amino acids to form urea
 Question
Which human excretory structure aids in the
maintenance of normal body temperature?

1)Urinary bladder
2)Nephrons
3)Liver
4)Sweat glands
 What are the major organs of the
urinary system?

4. Kidneys – produce urine

2. Ureters – carries urine
from kidneys to bladder
3. Bladder – stores urine
1. Urethra – releases urine
What are the different parts of a kidney?

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 Excretory system
The renal vein The renal artery
carries cleaned carries ‘dirty’
blood away from blood (with
the kidneys waste) into the
kidneys
The kidneys
remove urea and Ureters are
other waste tubes which
The bladder is a carry urine to
bag that stores the bladder
urine The sphincter is
a ring of muscle
The urethra is a
that keeps the
tube which
bladder closed
carries urine out
until you go to
of your body
the toilet
How do the Kidneys aid in the
removal of wastes?
• Produce urine and
regulate water/salt
balance in the blood.

• **major organ of the

excretory system**
 Syllabus Statements
Excretion in humans
• Outline the structure and functioning of a kidney
tubule, including:
– the role of the glomerulus in the filtration from
the blood of water, glucose, urea and salts
– the role of the tubule in the reabsorption of all of
the glucose, most of the water and some salts back
into the blood, leading to the concentration of urea
in the urine as well as loss of excess water and
salts (details of these processes are not required)
What is the major filtering unit
of the kidney?
The
Nephron

Each kidney is
made of 1 million
nephrons to
filter the blood
How does the kidney work?

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 How the Nephron Works
• Bowman’s
The capsule Capsule
will take& out
Loop water,
of Henle
amino
acids, glucose, salts, and urea.
• The Loop of Henle will reabsorb the amino
acids,
Bowmanglucose
Capsule
and, salt. (makes urine
concentrated)
Glomerulus Ascending
Descending Loop
Loop

 http://video.about.com/surgery/Kidney-Transplant.htm
 Description/Function
B
A Tiny ball of capillaries located at the beginning
of each nephron (site of filtration)
Glomerulus A
B Cup-shaped portion of the nephron that
surrounds the glomerulous (site of filtration)
Bowman’s Capsule
C Site of Reabsorption and Secretion

Loop Of Henle
D All remaining substances in the nephron enter
here; Filtrate is now called Urine (Excretion)
Collecting Duct E D
E Transports unfiltered blood to the kidney;
enables diffusion/active transport of
Blood
substances Vessels
into/out of nephron; Transports
filtered blood back to the heart C
 Nephron
Will blood cells andBlood Processing:
proteins be filtered
1)Filtration:
into the nephron? Arteries transport blood to the
kidney (nephron)
No!! Way
Urea, water, Glucose, and
too Big!!!
salts (minerals) are filtered
out by diffusion/active
transport
Nephron
Blood Processing:
1)Reabsorption:
Substances still needed by the
body are removed from the
filtrate and re-enter the blood
via diffusion/active transport

Ex: glucose, water, minerals

(NOT urea)
Nephron
Blood Processing:

3)Secretion:
Kidneys remove certain
substances from the blood
and add them to the filtrate.
Ex: Salts, Water
Nephron
Blood Processing:

4)Excretion:
Urine has been formed! Will
be moved to the bladder to
be excreted from the body
 Question

Which sequence represents the correct

pathway for the removal of urine from
human body?

1)Kidney-ureter-urinary bladder-urethra
2)Kidney-urethra-urinary bladder-ureter
3)kidney-urinary bladder-ureter-urethra
4)kidney-urinary bladder-urethra-ureter
 Answer

1)Kidney-ureter-urinary bladder-urethra
 Excretion in Humans
2.72 describe ultrafiltration in the Bowmancs capsule and the composition of the glomerular filtrate

The glomerulus
filters blood and
produces
glomerular filtrate.

This filtrate
contains: water,
glucose, salts and
urea (amino acids).
(Large molecules such
as protein are too large
to fit through the blood
capillary walls.)
 Excretion in Humans
2.73 understand that water is reabsorbed into the blood from the collecting duct

Blood water levels are sensed by the hypothalamus in the brain.

When water levels are too low, the hypothalamus tells the pituitary gland
(also in the brain) to release the hormone Anti-Diuretic Hormone (ADH)

Teac
h
 Excretion in Humans
2.73 understand that water is reabsorbed into the blood from the collecting duct
2.75 describe the role of ADH in regulating the water content of the blood

When blood water levels are too low;

 
1) Hypothalamus detects
 
2) Pituitary gland releases ADH into bloodstream
 
3) ADH travels all over the body
 
4) Only the cells in the collecting duct of the nephrons of the kidney
have receptors for ADH, so only they respond to the hormone
 
5) The collecting duct becomes more permeable
 
6) Water is draw out of the collecting duct back into the blood B
  B
7) Water levels return to normal
 Syllabus Statements
Excretion in humans
• Explain dialysis in terms of salt balance, the
maintenance of glucose concentration and the
removal of urea
• Describe the use of dialysis in kidney machines
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of
kidney transplants, compared with dialysis
 Diabetes Insipidus
What is it?
Excretion of large amounts of watery urine
Unquenchable thirst

What Causes It?

Kidney is not reabsorbing water
Back into the bloodstream

How do you treat it?

Medicine
Kidney Stones
 Kidney Stones
What Causes It?
Not drinking enough water to
dilute the minerals/salts
being filtered out
What is it?
Urine is extremely concentrated
forming crystallized stones which
can block the urinary tract
How do you treat it?
Some pass through the urinary tract,
surgery, shock wave therapy
Shock Wave Therapy
 Who gets kidney stones?
• For unknown reasons, the number of people in
the United States with kidney stones has been
increasing over the past 20 years.
• White Americans are more prone to develop
kidney stones than African Americans.
• Stones occur more frequently in men.
• Kidney stones strike most typically between the
ages of 20 and 40.
• Once a person gets more than one stone, others
are likely to develop.
 Kidney Failure
What Causes It?
Traumatic injury, Drugs/Toxins, Infection,
high blood pressure, and diabetes

What is it?
Low rate of filtration;
nephron’s are not working
properly in both kidneys

How do you treat it?

Dialysis; Kidney Transplant
Dialysis machine

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 Kidney Transplant
Advantages Disadvantages
• Sustain life freely • A borrowed kidney will
without dialysis only last about 9 years
• Feels better before shutting down
physically • Need immuno-
• Diet is less limited suppressants for life
• Don’t see yourself as • Surgery risks (infection
chronically ill and bleeding)
• Tissue rejection
• Finding a suitable donor
(long wait list)
 The Dialysis Machine
Advantages Disadvantages
• Constant medical • Repeated use daily
attention (8hrs per day)
• Saves lives • After some years,
• more readily available levels can be hard to
than transplants maintain
• Must follow a strict
healthy diet
Surviving with one kidney?
 Question
In humans, which substance is normally
excreted through both alveoli and
nephrons?

1)Water
2)Ammonia
3)Glucose
4)Uric acid
Which sample?

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The Urinary System

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The Nephron

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 The Nephron
C D
B
A E