THE URINARY SYSTEM

THE URINARY SYSTEM FUNCTIONS

➤ Filter ~200L of uid from bloodstream
➤ Remove waste, toxins, excess ions via urine
➤ Return needed substances to blood
➤ Maintain body’s internal environment by:
➤ regulating body’s water volume and solute
concentration in that water
➤ regulating concentrations of various ions in
extracellular uids
➤ ensuring long-term acid-base balance
➤ excreting wastes
➤ producing erythropoietin and renin
➤ converting vitamin D to active form
➤ carrying out glucogenesis during fasting
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THE URINARY SYSTEM COMPONENTS
➤ Composed of:
➤ Kidneys
➤ Ureters
➤ Urinary bladder
➤ Urethra
KIDNEY EXTERNAL ANATOMY
➤ Located in superior lumbar region (T12-
L3)
➤ Right kidney slightly lower than left
➤ About the size of a large bar of soap
➤ Adrenal gland
➤ Hilum of kidney
 KIDNEY INTERNAL GROSS ANATOMY
➤ Three distinct regions:
➤ Renal cortex
Colu
mn ➤ Renal medulla
➤ Renal pelvis
➤ Major and minor calyces
 KIDNEY BLOOD SUPPLY
➤ Receive ¼ cardiac output (~1200 ml/min)

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 ➤ Glomerulus + glomerular
capsule = renal corpuscle
➤ Renal corpuscle + renal
tubule = NEPHRON

Arcuate artery
 ➤ Glomerulus: fenestrated
capillary
➤ ltrate
➤ Glomerular capsule
➤ Parietal layer
➤ simple squamous
epithelium
➤ structural only
➤ Visceral layer
➤ clings to capillaries
➤ podocytes with ltration
slits
➤ ltrate enters capsular
space
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➤ Renal Tubule
➤ 3 major parts
➤ Proximal convoluted
tubule
➤ Nephron loop / Loop of
Henle
➤ Distal convoluted tubule
➤ Proximal convoluted tubule
(PCT)
➤ cuboidal epithelial cells
➤ lots of mitochondria
➤ dense microvilli on apical
surface
➤ Nephron Loop / Loop of Henle
➤ descending and ascending
limbs
➤ thin vs. thick segments
➤ thin = simple squamous
➤ thick = simple cuboidal,
or sometimes low
columnar
➤ Distal convoluted tubule (DCT)
➤ simple cuboidal
➤ almost no microvilli
 ➤ Collecting duct
➤ Two cell types
➤ principal cells with short,
sparse microvilli; maintain
water and sodium balance
➤ intercalated cells with lots
of microvilli; maintain
acid-base balance of blood
➤ Receives ltrate from many
nephrons
➤ Run through pyramids,
giving striped appearance
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NEPHRON
CLASSES OF NEPHRONS
➤ Cortical nephrons
➤ 85% of nephrons
➤ located entirely in cortex except for
short nephron loops
➤ Juxtamedullary nephrons
➤ originate close to cortex-medulla
junction
➤ long nephron loops
➤ help produce concentrated urine
NEPHRON CAPILLARY BEDS
➤ Two capillary beds for each nephron
➤ 1. Glomerulus
➤ 2. Peritubular capillary + vasa recta
 GLOMERULUS
➤ Unique because fed AND drained by
arterioles
➤ Maintains high pressure in glomerulus,
needed for ltration
Cortical radiate artery

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 GLOMERULUS
➤ Unique because fed AND drained by
arterioles
➤ Maintains high pressure in glomerulus,
needed for ltration
➤ Arterioles then feed into either
peritubular capillaries or vasa recta
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 PERITUBULAR CAPILLARIES
➤ E erent arterioles split to form
meandering vessels of peritubular
capillaries
➤ Cling closely to adjacent renal tubules
➤ Empty into nearby venules
➤ Low pressure, porous structure can
readily reabsorb solutes and water from
tubule cells to reclaim them from ltrate
➤ Also absorb from several adjacent
nephrons
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 VASA RECTA
➤ E erent arteriole doesn’t split up
➤ Instead forms bundles of long straight
vessels
➤ Extends deep into medulla around the
long nephron loop
➤ Supplies oxygen and nutrients to tissue
➤ Thin-walled for urine concentration
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JUXTAGLOMERULAR COMPLEX (JGC)
 JUXTAGLOMERULAR COMPLEX (JGC)
➤ Macula densa cells
➤ chemoreceptors
➤ monitor NaCl content of
ltrate entering DCT
➤ Granular cells
➤ AKA juxtaglomerular (JG)
cells
➤ enlarged smooth muscle cells
➤ mechanoreceptors for sensing
blood pressure
➤ secrete renin
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FILTRATE VS. URINE
➤ Filtrate:
➤ everything in blood plasma except proteins

➤ Urine:
➤ contains unneeded substances such as excess salts and metabolic wastes

➤ Kidneys process ~47 gallons (180L) daily but less than 1% leaves as urine
 URINE FORMATION — OVERVIEW
➤ 1. Glomerular ltration
➤ “dumping into waste container”
➤ occurs in renal corpuscle
➤ produces cell-free and protein-free
ltrate
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URINE FORMATION — OVERVIEW
➤ 2. Tubular reabsorption
➤ “reclaiming what body needs to keep”
➤ occurs in renal tubules and collecting
ducts
➤ reclaims almost everything
 URINE FORMATION — OVERVIEW
➤ 3. Tubular secretion
➤ “selectively adding to waste container”
➤ occurs in renal tubules and collecting
ducts
➤ moves substances from blood back into
ltrate
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URINE FORMATION — 1. GLOMERULAR FILTRATION
➤ Passive process driven by hydrostatic pressure
URINE FORMATION — 1. GLOMERULAR FILTRATION
URINE FORMATION — 1. GLOMERULAR FILTRATION
➤ Three layers of ltration
membrane:
➤ fenestrated endothelium
of glomerular capillaries
➤ basement membrane
➤ foot processes of
podocytes
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URINE FORMATION — 1. GLOMERULAR FILTRATION
➤ Pressures that a ect ltration:
➤ hydrostatic pressure in
glomerular capillaries (HPgc)
➤ hydrostatic pressure in the
capsular space (HPcs)
➤ colloid osmotic pressure in
glomerular capillaries (OPgc)
➤ NFP = net ltration pressure
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URINE FORMATION — 1. GLOMERULAR FILTRATION
➤ Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR): volume of ltrate formed each minute by the
combined activity of all 2 million glomeruli
➤ GFR directly proportional to:
➤ Net ltration pressure (NFP)
➤ Total surface area available for ltration
➤ Filtration membrane permeability
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GFR REGULATION
URINE FORMATION — 2. TUBULAR REABSORPTION
➤ Reclaiming ltrate contents and returning them to blood
➤ Begins in proximal tubules
➤ Reabsorption occurs through either:
➤ transcellular route
➤ paracellular route
➤ Reabsorption process may be active or passive
➤ active tubular reapsorption: requires ATP either directly or indirectly
➤ passive tubular reabsorption: substances move down their electrochemical
gradients (di usion, facilitated di usion, or osmosis)
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URINE FORMATION — 2. TUBULAR REABSORPTION
URINE FORMATION — 2. TUBULAR REABSORPTION
HORMONES THAT FINE TUNE REABSORPTION IN THE DCT AND COLLECTING DUCT
➤ ADH: antidiuretic hormone
➤ inhibits diuresis (urine output)
➤ determines number of aquaporins
➤ Aldosterone
➤ enhances reabsorption of remaining Na+
➤ reduces K+ concentration in blood
➤ Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP)
➤ reduces blood Na+ (opposite of aldosterone)
➤ released by cardiac atrial cells when blood volume or pressure is elevated
➤ Parathyroid hormone (PTH)
➤ increases reabsorption of Ca2+
 URINE FORMATION — 3. TUBULAR SECRETION
➤ Reabsorption in reverse
➤ Moves selected substances from peritubular capillaries through tubule cells into the
ltrate
➤ Urine contains both ltered and secreted substances
➤ PCT is main site of secretion
➤ Important for:
➤ Disposing of substances bound to plasma proteins
➤ Eliminating undesirable substances that were passively reabsorbed
➤ Ridding body of excess K+
➤ Controlling blood pH
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 URINE CONCENTRATION AND VOLUME
➤ Regulated by kidneys by creating and using an osmotic
gradient
➤ Osmolality: concentration of solute particles per kg of
water
➤ Measured in milliosmol (mOsm) / kg
➤ Countercurrent mechanisms: uid owing in opposite
directions through adjacent vessels
➤ Two countercurrent mechanisms used by kidneys:
➤ Countercurrent multiplier — ascending and
descending limbs of long nephron loops
(juxtamedullary nephrons)
➤ Countercurrent exchanger: ascending and descending
portions of vasa recta
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COUNTERCURRENT EXCHANGER
➤ Vasa recta preserve medullary gradient
by:
➤ 1. preventing rapid removal of salt
from medullary interstitial space
➤ 2. removing reabsorbed water
DILUTE OR CONCENTRATED URINE?
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF URINE
➤ Color and transparenc

➤ Clear, pale to deep yellow (due to urochrome

➤ Concentrated urine has a deeper yellow colo

➤ Drugs, vitamin supplements, and diet can change the color of urin

➤ Cloudy urine may indicate infection of the urinary tract

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PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF URINE

➤ Odor
➤ Fresh urine is slightly aromatic
➤ Standing urine develops an ammonia odor
➤ Some drugs and vegetables alter the usual odor
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF URINE
➤ pH
➤ Slightly acidic (pH 6)
with a range of 4.5 to
8.0
➤ Diet can alter pH
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF URINE
➤ Water (95%)
➤ Urea
➤ Other nitrogenous wastes:
uric acid and creatinine
➤ Other normal solutes:
➤ Sodium, potassium,
phosphate, sulfate,
calcium, magnesium, &
bicarbonate ions
URETERS
➤ Slender tubes that convey
urine from the kidneys to
the bladder
➤ Ureters enter the base of the
bladder through the
posterior wall
URETERS
➤ Ureters have a trilayered wall
➤ Transitional epithelial mucosa
➤ Smooth muscle muscularis
➤ Fibrous connective tissue adventitia
➤ Ureters actively propel urine to the
bladder
TRANSITIONAL EPITHELIUM
 URINARY BLADDER
➤ Smooth, collapsible, muscular sac that
stores urine temporarily
➤ It lies retroperitoneally on the pelvic
oor posterior to the pubic symphysis
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URINARY BLADDER
 URINARY BLADDER
➤ The bladder wall has same three layers
as ureters
➤ The bladder is distensible and collapses
when empty
➤ As urine accumulates, the bladder
expands without signi cant rise in
internal pressure
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URETHRA
SPHINCTERS OF THE URETHRA
MICTURITION