Excretory Products

 Unlike plants, humans have organs which are specialised for the removal of certain
excretory products
 They include the lungs and kidneys
 The liver also has a vital role in excretion
The Need for Excretion

 Excretion is the removal of the waste substances of metabolic reactions (the

chemical reactions that take place inside cells), toxic materials and
substances in excess of requirements
 Carbon dioxide must be excreted as it dissolves in water easily to form an acidic
solution which can lower the pH of cells
 This can reduce the activity of enzymes in the body which are essential for
controlling the rate of metabolic reactions
 For this reason, too much carbon dioxide in the body is toxic
 Urea is also toxic to the body in higher concentrations and so must be excreted

The Role of the Liver

 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
 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
The Urinary System Structure
Changes in Urine

 The colour and quantity of urine produced in the body can change quickly
 Large quantities of urine are usually pale yellow in colour because it contains a lot
of water and so the urea is less concentrated
 Small quantities of urine are usually darker yellow / orange in colour because it
contains little water and so the urea is more concentrated
 There are various reasons why the concentration of urine will change, including:
o Water intake - the more fluids drunk, the more water will be removed from
the body and so a large quantity of pale yellow, dilute urine will be
produced
o Temperature - the higher the temperature the more water is lost in sweat and
so less will appear in urine, meaning a smaller quantity of dark yellow,
concentrated urine will be produced
o Exercise - the more exercise done, the more water is lost in sweat and so
less will appear in urine, meaning a smaller quantity of dark yellow,
concentrated urine will be produced

The Kidney

 The kidneys are located in the back of the abdomen and have two important
functions in the body:
o They regulate the water content of the blood (vital for maintaining blood
pressure)
o They excrete the toxic waste products of metabolism (such as urea) and
substances in excess of requirements (such as salts)
 Structure of Nephron

 Each kidney contains around a million tiny structures called nephrons, also known
as kidney tubules or renal tubules
 The nephrons start in the cortex of the kidney, loop down into the medulla and back
up to the cortex
 The contents of the nephrons drain into the innermost part of the kidney and
the urine collects there before it flows into the ureter to be carried to
the bladder for storage
The Nephron
1) Ultrafiltration
  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

Components of filtrate:
2) Selective Reabsorption
Reabsorption of Glucose
 Log

Diagram showing the process of ultrafiltration

  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

Components of filtrate:
2) Selective Reabsorption

Reabsorption of Glucose

Diagram showing the 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
 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
 As there is nowhere else for the glucose to be reabsorbed, it continues in the filtrate
and ends up in 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 & Salts

 As the filtrate drips through the Loop of Henle necessary salts are reabsorbed back
into the blood by diffusion
 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
 As the dialysis fluid has no urea in it, there is a large concentration gradient -
meaning that urea diffuses across the partially permeable membrane, from the
blood to the dialysis fluid
 As the dialysis fluid contains a glucose concentration equal to a normal blood sugar
level, this prevents the net movement of glucose across the membrane as no
concentration gradient exists
 As the dialysis fluid contains a salt concentration similar to the ideal blood
concentration, movement of salts across the membrane only occurs where there is
an imbalance (if the blood is too low in salts, they will diffuse into the blood; if the
blood is too high in salts, they will diffuse out of the blood)
 The fluid in the machine is continually refreshed so that concentration gradients
are maintained between the dialysis fluids and the blood
 Dialysis may take 3-4 hours to complete and needs to be done several times a
week to prevent damage to the body from the buildup of toxic substances in the
blood
 An anticoagulant is added to blood before it runs through the machine to prevent
the blood from clotting and slowing the flow