THE EXCRETORY SYSTEM
composition of the body fluids
- All the tissues and organs that are involved in the
removal of waste products from the body.
I. PARTS OF THE HUMAN
EXCRETORY SYSTEM:
A. The Urinary System- Excretes water, nitrogen
wastes and salts as urine from the body.
B. The Digestive System- Eliminates water, some
salts and bile in addition to indigestible food matter.
These materials combine to make feces.
Components of the Excretory System
C. Respiratory System- Eliminates carbon dioxide and
water (as a vapor).
D. Integumentary System- (the Skin) Excretes water,
salts and small amounts of nitrogen wastes (urea), all
in the form of perspiration.
II. THE URINARY SYSTEM IN DETAIL
1. The Kidneys- extract wastes from the blood,
balance the fluids of the body and form urine.
- Location- The body’s two kidneys are against the
back wall of the abdominal cavity.
- The kidneys are separated into two regions, the
outer Cortex and the inner Medulla.
- The functional unit of the kidney is called the
Nephron, a microscopic, coiled set of tubes.
OTHER FUNCTIONS
 Control the volume and electrolyte
governed mainly by a person’s eating and
 Excretion of metabolic waste products and
foreign chemicals
 Regulation of water and electrolyte balances
 Regulation of body fluid osmolality and
electrolyte concentrations
 Regulation of arterial pressure
 Regulation of acid-base balance
 Regulation of erythrocyte production
 Secretion, metabolism, and excretion of
hormones
 Gluconeogenesis
2. The kidneys are involved in the following
processes:
-Excretion of unwanted substances.
-When Amino Acids are broken down in the body
they leave behind nitrogen containing waste in the
blood.
-The liver turns these wastes into urea, which is
filtered back out of the blood by the kidneys.
3. Maintaining Water Balance.
 Excretion of water and electrolytes must
precisely match intake
¨ If intake > excretion, the amount of that substance
in the body will increase
¨ If intake < excretion, the amount of that substance
in the body will decrease.
MAINTAINING WATER BALANCE
 Intake of water and many electrolytes is
drinking habits
¨ requiring the kidneys to adjust their excretion rates
to match the intakes of various substances
4. Excretion of unwanted substances:
- waste products must be eliminated from the body
rapidly
. The kidneys also eliminate most toxins and other
foreign substances that are either produced by the
body or ingested, such as pesticides, drugs, and food
additives.
EXCRETION OF UNWANTED
SUBSTANCES
 Urea (metabolism of amino acids)
 Creatinine (muscle creatine)
 uric acid (nucleic acids)
 end products of hemoglobin breakdown (such as
bilirubin), and metabolites of various hormones
REGULATION OF ARTERIAL
PRESSURE
n Excreting variable amounts of sodium and water
n contribute to short-term arterial pressure
regulation by secreting hormones and vasoactive
factors or substances (e.g., renin) that lead to the
formation of vasoactive products (e.g., angiotensin
II).
REGULATION OF ACID BASE
BALANCE
n The kidneys contribute to acid-base regulation,
along with the lungs and body fluid buffers, by
excreting acids and by regulating the body fluid
buffer stores. The kidneys are the only means of
eliminating from the body certain types of acids,
such as sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid, generated
by the metabolism of proteins.
REGULATION OF ERYTHROCYTE
PRODUCTION
n Erythropoietin
¨ which stimulates the production of RBCS by
hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow,
¨ Hypoxia
¨ One important stimulus for Erythropoietin
secretion by the kidneys is hypoxia
n The kidneys normally account for almost all the
erythropoietin secreted into the circulation
n severe kidney disease/s/p nephrectomy/on dialysis
¨ , severe anemia develops as a result of decreased
erythropoietin production.
n 2 kidneys lie on the posterior wall of the abdomen,
outside the peritoneal cavity
n weighs about 150 grams
n size of a clenched fist
n medial side contains an indented region called the ¨ The walls of the calyces,
hilum through which pass the renal artery and vein,
lymphatics, nerve supply, and ureter, which carries pelvis, and ureter contain
the final urine from the kidney to the bladder, where
contractile elements that
it is stored until the bladder is emptied.
propel the urine toward the
n The kidney is surrounded by a tough, fibrous
capsule that protects its delicate inner structures. bladder, where urine is stored
COVERINGS OF THE KIDNEY until it is emptied by
n Fibrous capsule: surrounds the kidney, applied to micturition, discussed later in
the outer surface
this chapter.
n Perirenal fat: surrounds the outer capsule
RENAL BLOOD SUPPLY
n Renal fascia
n Blood flow to the two kidneys is
n Pararenal fat: forms part of the retroperitoneal fat
normally about 22 % of the CO, or
KIDNEYS
1100 ml/min
n 2 major regions that can be visualized are the
outer cortex and the inner medulla regions n Renal artery enters the kidney
n Medulla is divided into 8 to 10 coneshaped masses through the hilum and then branches
of tissue called renal pyramids
progressively to form the interlobar
¨ Originates at the border between the cortex and
arteries, arcuate arteries,
medulla and terminates in the papilla, which
interlobular arteries (also called
projects into the space of the renal pelvis, a funnel-
shaped continuation of the upper end of the ureter. radial arteries), and afferent
¨ outer border of the pelvis is divided into open- arterioles, which lead to the glomerular
ended pouches called major calyces that extend
downward and divide into minor calyces, capillaries, where large
which collect urine from the amounts of fluid and solutes (except
tubules of each papilla the plasma proteins) are filtered to
begin urine formation

n The distal ends of the capillaries of

each glomerulus coalesce to form the

effer-ent arteriole, which leads to a

second capillary network, the

peritubular capillaries, that

surrounds the renal tubules.

RENAL