Excretion is a physiological process, which allows the body to get rid of substances that are not useful or used

and can be
toxic to the human body, thus maintaining the balance of homeostasis and the composition of body fluids.

The substances that must be expelled are enormously varied, but the most abundant are carbon dioxide, and nitrogen
derivations that are produced from the catabolism of proteins.

Ammonia. It is excreted by aquatic invertebrates (porifera, cnidarians, echinoderms, crustaceans, etc.), bony fish, and
amphibian larvae. It is very toxic but, due to its great solubility and diffusion, the surrounding water quickly dilutes and
washes it away. Animals that excrete ammonia are called ammoniatelic.
Urea. It is produced in the liver by the rapid transformation of ammonia, resulting in being much less toxic and more
soluble, although it diffuses more slowly. For these reasons, it can be accumulated in the tissues without causing damage
and be excreted in a more concentrated form. It is the main nitrogenous waste of cartilaginous fish, adult amphibians and
mammals. Animals that excrete urea are called ureotelic.
In smaller amounts, it occurs in the blood, liver, lymph,
and serous fluids, as well as in the droppings of fish and
many other animals. It is also found in the heart, lungs,
bones, and reproductive organs, as well as semen.
Uric acid. It is characteristic of animals that gets water in small quantities. It is formed from ammonia and other
nitrogenous derivatives. It is excreted as a white paste or solid due to its minimal toxicity and low solubility. It is
characteristic of animals adapted to live in a dry environment and lay eggs with shell and membrane impermeable to
water, such as insects, pulmonated mollusks, reptiles and birds. Animals that excrete uric acid are called uricotelic.

• It is found in the urine in small quantities.

• The saturation of uric acid in human blood can lead to a type

of kidney stone (nephrolithiasis) when the acid crystallizes in
the kidney.
• Increased uric acid levels in the blood may not only be related
to gout, but may simply be hyperuricemia, exhibiting some of
the above symptoms, or may be asymptomatic.
• However, the greater the increase in uric acid in the blood, the
greater the chances of suffering from kidney and arthritic
conditions, etc.
 Protonephridia
• They are a network of tubules with blind ends connected to each other, but lacking internal openings that
communicate them to the conductor or channel of the protonephridium. At the distal end, these tubules open to the
outside through the neuropore or nephrostoma, and at the proximal end they widen to form an ampulla lined
internally with flagellated flaming cells; When these flagellated cells line the external face of the ampulla, they are
called solenocytes.
• Are typical of platyhelminths, rotifers, and larvae of annelids, molluscs, some fish, and some amphibians. Very probably
they arose in freshwater animals in which they fulfilled the function of expelling the excess water that entered organisms
in abundance down the osmotic gradient and, later on, secondarily, they began to perform more osmotic and ionic
regulation functions.
• The septa, the walls of the tubules, give way by osmosis. Each cell has one or
more flagella, and when they beat the protonephridium canal, they create an
outward current and, by extension, a partial vacuum at the bottom of the canal.
Due to this partial vacuum, the animal's internal fluids and metabolic wastes
are pushed through the terminal cell pores into the protonephridium. The
pores of the terminal cells have such a diameter that small molecules can pass
through, but larger proteins are retained in the organism.

• From the bottom of the protonephridium, the stool fluid is carried through the
duct (formed by the cells of the canal) and leaves the animal through the
nephrostome.

• There are two types of protonephridia:

1. Flame cells: are large cells with cilia. They connect cells inside the body
with the outside through a small tube. Nitrogenous products pass from
one cell to another, until they reach the flaming cell that expels them to
the outside, thanks to the current created by the movement of the cilia.
2. Solenocytes: they are large cells, flagellated, with a collarette. Some cells
are associated with others forming a chamber to which nitrogenous
substances are expelled, which go abroad, thanks to the action of the
flagella.