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Excretory System

The excretory system removes metabolic waste from the body. The kidneys filter blood to produce urine, which contains water and nitrogenous wastes like urea and uric acid. The functional unit of the kidney is the nephron, which filters blood in the glomerulus and reabsorbs useful molecules back into blood while waste collects in urine. Urine is transported through the ureters to the bladder for storage and eventual excretion through the urethra. The kidneys also regulate water balance and blood pressure through selective reabsorption of water to produce either dilute or concentrated urine.

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Aiman Afzal
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49 views

Excretory System

The excretory system removes metabolic waste from the body. The kidneys filter blood to produce urine, which contains water and nitrogenous wastes like urea and uric acid. The functional unit of the kidney is the nephron, which filters blood in the glomerulus and reabsorbs useful molecules back into blood while waste collects in urine. Urine is transported through the ureters to the bladder for storage and eventual excretion through the urethra. The kidneys also regulate water balance and blood pressure through selective reabsorption of water to produce either dilute or concentrated urine.

Uploaded by

Aiman Afzal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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EXCRETORY SYSTEM

Introduction and need of excretion


Living organisms have to metabolize which consist of anabolism and catabolism.
Anabolism consists of all reactions for formation of compounds. Catabolism is break
down of various compounds including glucose, proteins and lipids for the formation of
energy.
Catabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids
carbohydrates + oxygen CO2 + H2O + energy

proteins + oxygen CO2 + H2O + NH3 + energy

lipids + oxygen CO2 + H2O + energy


Metabolic wastes
We can see in the reactions above that metabolic waste products are carbon dioxide,
water and ammonia. These are waste and surplus materials. These have to be removed.
Ammonia is highly toxic for the tissues. Water and CO 2 are dangerous for the body if
these are present in excess. Rise in CO 2 may result in decrease in pH in blood which is
dangerous. Ammonia is highly toxic and has to be converted into less toxic form. But
those forms also need to be removed. Changes in water concentration in tissue fluids also
create problems. Higher concentration may cause dropsy, which is accumulation of water
in tissues. Decrease in water concentration may lead to dehydration. For all of these
reasons an excretory system is required.
Excretion in Vertebrates
Major waste products in vertebrates
 Carbon dioxide
 Mineral salts
 Urea
 Creatinine
 Uric acid
 Excess water

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Excretion in animals
 Unicellular organisms
 Small animals
 Large animals
 Adaptations to habitat
o water - fresh and brackish e.g. marine
o desert
o terrestrial

Excretory Organs
 Skin acts as excretory structure
 Salt glands are present in some marine or brackish water inhabiting organisms
 Intestine sometimes act as excretory organ
 Kidney
o Major organ for excretion in vertebrates
o Help also in osmoregulation
 Structure of kidney is different in organisms living in fresh and marine waters.
Kidneys in fresh water organisms is modified to produce dilute urine while
kidneys of marine or brackish water inhabiting animals are designed to produce
concentrated urine.
Basic components of human excretory system: kidneys and accessory parts

Exon
Kidney
Intron

Coding
Gene –
introns
removed
Various parts of human excretory system

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External and internal structure of kidney
Kidney is a bean shaped structure. A pair of kidneys is present in abdominal cavity
attached to dorsal body wall. The concave part of kidney lies towards vertebral column.
There is a depression present towards the vertebral column which is called hilus. The
concave part provides space for entrance and exit of renal artery, vein and nerves. A thin
tube ureter arises out of the concave part of kidney.

Structure of a kidney

Renal cortex and renal medulla


If we look at a section of a kidney, then the outermost layer, reddish in color is called
cortex. After cortex the second layer consists of structure like pyramids occur. This
region is called medulla. A funnel shaped cavity is present towards inside that receives
urine called renal pelvis.
Nephron
Nephron is the functional unit of kidney. Kidneys have many small structures present in
cortex and medulla called nephrons. Function of the nephron is to produce urine.
Nephron consists of following structures:
◦ Glomerulus, which is a capillary network.
◦ Bowman’s capsule (Glumerular capsule) is the capsule like structure in
which the glumerulus is present.
◦ Convoluted tubule
◦ Loop of Henle
◦ Collecting duct

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Structure of a nephron

Functioning of the kidney: Urine formation


Function of the kidney is to produce urine. Kidney produces urine by following
mechanism.
Pressure Filtration
� Pressure filtration in the renal corpuscle occurs due to blood pressure in renal
artery. Molecules other than RBCs and plasma are filtered, i.e., these enter into
the renal capsule.
� It is called Bowman’s filtrate
� It consist of salts, glucose, urea and uric acid

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Filtration apparatus: Bowman’s capsule and glumerulus.
Reabsorption
The filtrate moves down the tubular system. Next step is called reabsorption.
Reabsorption means that those compounds which are useful for the body return back to
the blood and the remaining part of filtrate in the tubules makes urine consist of water
and nitrogenous wastes. Reabsorption occurs through the network of capillaries
surrounding the tubules. Reabsorption is selective process. Glucose, water and salts are
reabsorbed.
In the last step, only nitrogenous wastes remain inside the urine. This urine now goes
down to pelvis and uretes. Through ureters it enters the urinary bladder for temporary
storage. When bladder is full, there is a reflex for urination through urethra. Urination is
not under conscious control in infants. In adults, however, this is under the conscious
control through a sphincter present on the junction of urinary bladder and urethera.
Osmoregulation
Kidneys help in osmoregulation. This also helps in the maintenance of blood pressure. In
case of increased blood pressure dilute urine is produced to temporarily reduce the
quantity of water. In case of decreased blood pressure concentrated urine is produced and
water is reabsorbed to compensate for fluid loss like in case of too much perspiration.
Thirst is also a reflex in response to decreased quantity of water in blood.

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Exercise
1. Draw a labeled diagram of human kidney.
2. Describe the structure of human excretory system with the help of diagram.
3. Describe the process of urine formation.
4. Describe the role of kidneys in osmoregulation.

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