HOMEOSTASIS AND EXCRETION

Inside our bodies, conditions are kept relatively constant. This is called homeostasis. One
aspect of homeostasis is the maintenance of water and salt content of the body. This is called
osmoregulation. The kidneys are organs which have a major role to play in both homeostasis and
the removal of metabolic waste, or excretion. They filter the blood, removing the nitrogenous
waste- urea, and control the concentration of water and salts in blood and other body fluids.

EXCRETION IN ANIMALS

Excretory product Excretory organ Form in which excreted

Carbon dioxide lungs Exhaled air
Nitrogenous waste
● Urea (formed by
breakdown of proteins) Skin Sweat
● Creatinine (muscle
kidney urine
breakdown)
● Uric acid ( breakdown
of nuclear material)

Excess water Lungs Exhaled air

Kidney Urine
skin sweat
Excess salts Skin Sweat
kidney urine
Bile pigments ( breakdown of liver Via intestines in the form of
haemoglobin) faeces

THE URINARY SYSTEM

The urinary system of a mammal consists of

⮚ A pair of kidneys
⮚ A pair of ureters
⮚ Urinary bladder
⮚ Urethra

KIDNEYS

Each kidney is a bean shaped structure embedded in a mass of fat called the peri-nephric fat in
the abdomen just above the waist line one on each side of the vertebral column. The concave
surface of each kidney faces the vertebral column. At the center of this surface is a
depression called the hilus. The renal artery enters and the renal vein and ureter leave the
kidney here.

A longitudinal section of the kidney shows that it consists of 2 main regions:

1) An outer darker region called the renal cortex which contains many tiny blood vessels and
filtering units called the nephrons.
2) An inner, thicker, paler region known as the renal medulla. It has bulges called the
pyramids pointing towards a funnel shaped cavity – the renal pelvis. The nephrons run
down the medulla and lead to the tips of these pyramids.

URETERS

Each ureter is a narrow tube which is a continuation of a cavity in the kidney called the pelvis.
It travels downwards and opens one on each side of the urinary bladder.

URINARY BLADDER

It is an elastic muscular bag which stores the urine. Up to 500ml of urine can be stored at a
given time.

URETHRA

The bladder has a tube leading to the outside called the urethra. The wall of the urethra
contains 2 ring like muscles called the sphincter. They can contract to close the urethra and
hold back the urine.
STRUCTURE OF A NEPHRON

Each nephron begins in the renal cortex as a cup like structure called the Bowman’s capsule.
The capsule leads into a short coiled tubule – the proximal tubule, before it straightens out as
it passes into the medulla. In the medulla, it makes a u turn and passes back into the cortex as
the loop of Henle where it becomes coiled again and is called the distal tubule. It then opens
into a collecting duct, which runs straight through the medulla and eventually opens into the
renal pelvis at the tips of the pyramids.

The blood containing urea, enters the kidney via the renal artery which gives off numerous
small arterioles. Each arteriole then breaks up into a mass of capillaries inside the Bowman’s
capsule called the glomerulus. Blood leaving the glomerulus enters capillaries surrounding the
nephron. The capillaries then unite to form branches of the renal vein.
FORMATION OF URINE

Occurs in two stages

1) Ultrafiltration
2) Selective reabsorption

ULTRAFILTRATION

The process where the filter separates different sized molecules under pressure. Both useful
and harmful substances are removed from blood. Filtration takes place between the glomerulus
and Bowman’s capsule. Blood in the glomerulus and space in the Bowman’s capsule are separated
by two layers of cells. Between these two layers is a third layer called the basement membrane,
which is a thin delicate membrane made of fibres. The blood entering the glomerulus in the
afferent arteriole is under high pressure. This pressure forces small molecules like water, salts,
glucose, amino acids and urea to enter the Bowman’s capsule. This fluid in the capsule space is
now called the glomerular filtrate. Blood cells, proteins and lipid molecules are too large to
pass through the walls of the glomerulus. The composition of glomerular filtrate is similar to
tissue fluid. The kidneys produce about 125ml /min of glomerular filtrate making it about 180
litres/day but only 1.5 litres of urine is produced everyday which is less than 1% of the volume
of the glomerular filtrate.

SELECTIVE REABSORPTION

It is the reabsorption of different amounts of various substances in the renal tubules. As the
filtrate passes down the proximal tubule, 99% of glucose and amino acids are reabsorbed in the
blood. About 75-80% of water and salts are also reabsorbed. While water is reabsorbed by
osmosis, glucose, amino acids and salts require active transport to be reabsorbed.

As the fluid comes down the loop of Henle, rest of the water and salts needed by the body are
reabsorbed. The fluid entering the distal tubule is concentrated and high in urea. It also
contains controlled amounts of water and salts. The distal tubule joins the collecting duct which
takes the excess water and salts along with urea into the renal pelvis as urine.

COMPOSITION OF URINE

An adult human produces about 1500 ml of urine everyday. Every litre of urine contains about
40 g of waste products and salts. The average composition of normal human urine in grams/100
ml is approximately
Water 96.8g

Salts (mainly NaCl) 18g

Urea 20g

Other nitrogenous waste 0.2g

OSMOREGULATION

The body contains about 40 litres of water, 15 litres in tissue fluid and blood plasma and 25
litres inside the cells. Water intake in an average person is

800 ml food

1400 ml drinks

400 ml respiration

2600 ml

On an average water loss in a 24 hour period amounts to

400 ml exhaled air

600 ml sweat

1500 ml urine

100 ml faeces

2600 ml

The water excreted in the urine is adjusted so that total water intake and total water loss are
balanced.

By controlling the concentration of urine, the kidneys can regulate the water content of blood.
If the amount of water is more in blood, the kidneys will make a larger volume of urine.
Conversely, if the blood becomes too concentrated, the kidneys produce smaller volume of
urine. These changes are controlled by a hormone produced by the pituitary gland in the brain
and is called the Anti Diuretic Hormone (ADH).

When there is less water in the blood, osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus detect this signal
and cause the pituitary gland to secrete ADH. It travels in the blood to the kidney where it
makes the walls of the collecting duct more permeable to water. Water is reabsorbed in the
blood by osmosis. This makes the urine more concentrated. When water content of blood
becomes normal, the release of ADH is switched off. This is called negative feedback.

KIDNEY FAILURE

If one kidney fails to function, a person can still lead a normal life with the other working
kidney but if both kidneys fail to work the person will die unless prompt medical treatment is
given. Two types of treatment are available:

⮚ Kidney transplant
⮚ Dialysis

DIALYSIS

The process by which blood is filtered or cleaned by a machine and then returned to circulation
is called dialysis.

PROCEDURE

Blood is drawn from an artery in the patient’s arm and is allowed to flow through the tubing in
the dialysis machine. The tubing is bathed in a specially controlled dialysis fluid, the composition
of which is the same as tissue fluid. The walls of the tubing are partially permeable allowing only
small molecules like urea to diffuse into the dialysis fluid. The filtered blood is then returned
to a vein in the patient’s arm. The patient needs to be treated 2-3 times week, each session
lasting for about 6-8hours.

Artery brings the blood to the dialysis machine so that filtration takes place as arteries carry
blood at high pressure. The vein takes blood away from the dialysis machine to prevent the back
flow of blood as veins have valves.

Features of dialysis tubing

⮚ Partially permeable; allows only small molecules to pass through

⮚ Coiled; increases the surface area for maximum filtration
⮚ Smooth; prevents clotting of blood

Composition of dialysis fluid

⮚ Same as tissue fluid

⮚ Any substance in excess will diffuse out until they are in equilibrium e.g. if glucose
concentration in blood is high it will diffuse into the fluid and vice versa.
THERMOREGULATION

The importance of Thermoregulation

Many biological and physical processes are affected by temperature. E.g

⮚ Enzymes work best at their optimum temperature and are denatured at high
temperature.
⮚ For chemical reactions to go on at a steady rate.
⮚ Metabolism does not slowdown in cold environments.
⮚ Cell membranes become more fragile as temperature rises.
⮚ Diffusion rates are increased by high temperatures.
⮚ Liquids such as blood becomes thick as the temperature falls.

ENDOTHERMS

Organisms that maintain a constant body temperature by generating heat internally are
called endotherms. Birds and mammals are endotherms. An endothermic animal maintains an
ideal body temperature by balancing heat losses and heat gains. Endotherms use behavioural
ways to control their temperature too.
 HYPOTHALAMUS AS A THERMOREGULATOR

The balance between heat gain and heat losses achieved by a temperature control centre in
the hypothalamus. It acts as the body’s thermostat. If changes to our behaviour are not
enough to keep our body temperature constant, the thermoregulatory centre detects a
change in the temperature of blood flowing through it. It then sends signals to other organs
to regulate temperature by physiological means.

HEAT GAINS AND HEAT LOSSES

Heat gains Heat losses

Metabolism Evaporation
Many biochemical reactions especially Water evaporates as vapour from the lungs
respiration generates heat and as sweat from skin
Movement Excretion
Heat is generated by friction and respiration Urine and faeces are at body temperature
as the muscles contract hence heat is lost as they are expelled
Conduction Conduction
Convection Convection
Radiation Radiation
SKIN

The human skin is the largest organ in the body. It has a number of functions related to the
fact that it forms the outer surface of the body.

o Forming a tough outer layer able to resist mechanical damage

o Acting as a barrier to the entry of pathogens
o Forming an impermeable surface preventing water loss
o Acting as a sense organ for pain, touch , pressure and temperature changes
o Controlling the loss of heat through body surface
o Excretion of excess water, minerals and urea in the form of sweat

STRUCTURE OF THE SKIN

The human skin is made up of three layers

o Epidermis
o Dermis
o Hypodermis

Epidermis
It is the top most layer of the skin and is further divided into 3 layers. The outermost layer
is made up of flattened dead cells containing keratin which makes the skin waterproof. The
middle layer contains both dead and live cells. The innermost layer contains actively dividing
cells where melanin is produced. There are no blood vessels in this layer. The cells obtain
food and oxygen by diffusion and active transport from the capillaries in the dermis.

Dermis

It is largely made up of connective tissue consisting of elastic collagen fibres. Following

structures are present in the dermis:

i. Blood vessels – supply both the dermis and the epidermis with food and oxygen. These
are in the form of capillary loops attached to arterioles.
ii. Hair follicles – these are formed by in pushing of cells of the innermost layer of the
epidermis making a hollow tube. attached to it is a bundle of smooth muscle – the hair
erector muscle – contraction of which causes ‘goosebumps’.
iii. Sebaceous glands – situated at the side of hair follicles. Produce ‘sebum’ –an oily
secretion that keeps the hair flexible and waterproofs it.
iv. Sweat glands – these are coiled tubes surrounded by capillaries. Excess water, salts
and urea are absorbed from the capillaries into the tubes then through sweat ducts
the sweat is taken to the surface and given out through the sweat pores.
v. Receptors – these are nerve endings that respond to stimuli like pain, pressure, touch
and temperature.

Hypodermis

It is the innermost layer of the skin that contains fatty tissue. It insulates the body
against heat loss and is a store of energy.

THERMOREGULATION

The following structures in the dermis play an important role in maintaining body
temperature:

i. SWEAT GLANDS – produce a great amount of sweat to release heat from the
body. Sweat is secreted onto the skin surface and evaporates leaving a cooling
effect. In humid atmosphere sweat remains on the skin, there is less evaporation
hence less cooling effect.
ii. HAIR FOLLICLES – hair on the surface of the skin lay flat because of relaxation
of hair erector muscle. In cold condition, the hair erector muscle contracts making
the hair stand up. Air is trapped between the hair and acts as an insulator.
 iii. BLOOD VESSELS – when the body is too hot, arterioles leading to capillary loops
dilate (become wider) this increases blood flow to the skin surface radiating more
heat to the outside. When the body is too cold, the arterioles constrict (become
narrower) decreasing blood flow resulting in conservation of heat. Vasoconstriction
and vasodilation are brought about by contraction and relaxation of the muscles in
the wall of the arterioles.

Other Mechanisms Involved In Thermoregulation

Other ways in which body can control heat gain and heat loss are

i. Metabolism – in cold conditions, adrenaline is secreted resulting in an increase in

metabolism hence increase heat generation.
ii. Shivering – muscles contract and relax rapidly to generate large amounts of heat by
respiration and friction.