CHAPTER

19

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 Excretion is the elimination of metabolic wastes like ammonia, urea, uric acid etc. from the tissues.

1. Ammonotelism: Process of excretion of NH3.

Ammonotelic animals: Aquatic invertebrates, aquatic insects,
bony fishes, aquatic amphibians etc.
o NH3 is highly toxic. So, excretion needs excess of water.
o NH3 is readily soluble in water and is excreted by diffusion
through body surface or gill surfaces (in fishes as
ammonium ions.
o Kidneys do not play any significant role in its removal.

2. Ureotelism: Process of excretion of urea.

Ureotelic animals: Cartilaginous fishes, terrestrial & semi-
aquatic amphibians (frogs, toads etc.), aquatic or semi- aquatic
reptiles (alligators, turtles), mammals etc. In liver,
o NH3 is converted into less toxic urea. So, it needs only
moderate quantity of water for excretion.
o Some amount of urea may be retained in the kidney matrix
of some animals to maintain a desired osmolarity.

3. Uricotelism: Process of excretion of uric acid. It is water

insoluble & less toxic. So, water is not needed for excretion.
Uricotelic animals: Insects, some land crustaceans, land snails,
terrestrial reptiles & birds.
o Ureotelism & uricotelism are needed for water conservation.

Protonephridia (flame cells): In Flatworms, rotifers, some annelids & cephalochordate. Protonephridia are primarily
for osmoregulation.
Nephridia: In Annelids. Help in the removal of nitrogenous wastes and osmoregulation.
Malpighian tubules: In Insects. Help in the removal of nitrogenous wastes and osmoregulation.
Antennal or green glands: In Crustaceans (prawn etc.)
Kidneys: In higher animals..

It includes kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder & urethra.

• Reddish brown, bean-shaped structures situated between the

levels of last thoracic & 3rd lumbar vertebra.
• Length: 10-12 cm, Width: 5-7 cm, Thickness: 2-3 cm. Average weight:
120-170 gm.
• It is enclosed in a tough, 3-layered fibrous renal capsule.
• On the concave side of kidney, there is an opening (hilum or hilus)
through which blood vessels, nerves, lymphatic ducts and ureter
enter the kidney.
• Hilum leads to funnel shaped cavity called renal pelvis with
projections called calyces.

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 • A kidney has outer cortex & inner medulla.
• Medulla has few conical projections called medullary pyramids (renal pyramids) projecting into the calyces.
• Cortex extends in between the medullary pyramids as renal columns (Columns of Bertini).
• Each kidney has nearly one million tubular nephrons.

• Nephrons are the structural & functional units of kidney.

• Each nephron has 2 parts: Glomerulus & Renal tubule.

• Glomerulus: A tuft of capillaries formed by afferent

arteriole (a fine branch of renal artery). Blood from
glomerulus is carried away by efferent arteriole.

• Renal tubule: It begins with a double walled cup-like

Bowman’s capsule which encloses the glomerulus.
Glomerulus + Bowman’s capsule = Malpighian body

• The tubule continues with proximal convoluted tubule

• (PCT), Henle’s loop & distal convoluted tubule (DCT).
• Henle’s loop is hairpin-shaped. It has descending and
ascending limbs.

• The DCTs of many nephrons open into a collecting duct.

Collecting duct extends from cortex to inner parts of
medulla. They converge and open into the renal pelvis through
medullary pyramids in the calyces.
• Malpighian body (Renal corpuscle), PCT and DCT are situated
in renal cortex. Loop of Henledips into medulla.
• The efferent arteriole forms a fine capillary network
(peritubular capillaries) around the renal tubule. A minute
vessel of this network runs parallel to Henle’s loop forming a
‘U’ shaped vasa recta.

1. Cortical nephrons (85%): In this, the Henle’s loop is short and extends only very little into the medulla. Vasa recta
is absent or highly reduced.
2. Juxtamedullary nephrons (15%): In this, Henle’s loop is long and runs deep into medulla. Vasa recta present.

3 processes: Glomerular filtration, reabsorption & secretion.

• The glomerular capillary blood pressure causes filtration of blood through 3 layers, i.e. endothelium of glomerular
blood vessels, epithelium of Bowman’s capsule & a basement membrane between these 2 layers.
• The epithelial cells (podocytes) of the Bowman’s capsule are arranged in an intricate manner leaving some minute
spaces called filtration slits (slit pores).
• Almost all constituents of the blood plasma except the proteins pass onto the lumen of the Bowman’s capsule.

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 • About 1100-1200 ml of blood is filtered by the kidneys per minute. It constitutes 1/5th of the blood pumped out by
each ventricle of the heart in a minute.
• The amount of the filtrate formed per minute is called Glomerular filtration rate (GFR).
• Normal GFR = 125 ml/minute, i.e., 180 litres/day.

• 180 litres of glomerular filtrate is produced daily. But about

99% of this is reabsorbed by the renal tubules.
• So normal volume of urine released is 1.5 litres.
• From the filtrate, glucose, amino acids, Na+, etc. are reabsorbed
actively and nitrogenous wastes are absorbed passively.
Passive reabsorption of water occurs in the initial segments
of the nephron.
• PCT reabsorbs most of the nutrients, and 70-80% of
electrolytes & water. Simple cuboidal brush border epithelium
of PCT increases surface area for reabsorption.

• In loop of Henle, minimum reabsorption takes place. It

maintains high osmolarity of medullary interstitial fluid. The
descending limb is permeable to water but almost
impermeable to electrolytes. This concentrates the filtrate. The
ascending limb is impermeable to water but allows transport
of electrolytes. So, the filtrate gets diluted.

• In DCT, conditional reabsorption of Na+ & water takes place.

• Collecting duct extends from cortex to inner parts of medulla. It reabsorbs large amount of water to concentrate
urine. It also allows passage of small amounts of urea into medullary interstitium to keep up the osmolarity.

• Cells of PCT & DCT maintain ionic (Na-K balance) and acid-base balance (pH) of body fluids by selective secretion
of H+, K+& NH3into the filtrate and absorption of HCO3- from it.
• Collecting duct maintain pH and ionic balance of blood by the secretion of H+ and K+ ions.

• Henle’s loop & vasa recta help to concentrate the urine.

• The flow of filtrate in the 2 limbs of Henle’s loop and
the flow of blood through the 2 limbs of vasa recta
are in
• opposite directions (i.e. in a counter current pattern).
• Due to the counter current and proximity between the
Henle’s loop & vasa recta, osmolarity increases from
cortex (300 mOsmolL-1) to the inner medullary
interstitium (1200 mOsmolL-1). This gradient is mainly
caused by NaCl and urea.
• NaCl is transported by ascending limb of Henle’s loop
that is exchanged with descending limb of vasa recta.
NaCl is returned to interstitium by ascending limb of
vasa recta.

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 • Similarly, small amount of urea enters the thin segment of the ascending limb of Henle’s loop which is
transported back to the interstitium by the collecting tubule.
• This transport of substances facilitated by Henle’s loop & vasa recta is called Counter current mechanism. It
maintains a concentration gradient (interstitial gradient) in medullary interstitium. It enables easy passage of
water from collecting tubule to concentrate the filtrate (urine).
• Human kidneys produce urine four times concentrated than the initial filtrate formed hereby decreases the blood
pressure.

• Gradual filling of urinary bladder causes stretching. As a result,

stretch receptors on its wall send impulses to CNS. The CNS
passes on motor messages. It causes the contraction of smooth
muscles of the bladder and simultaneous relaxation of the
urethral sphincter. It results in micturition (release of urine).
• The neural mechanism causing micturition is called micturition
reflex.
• An adult human excretes 1 to 1.5 litres of urine (25-30 gm urea) per
day.
• Urine is a light yellow coloured watery fluid, slightly acidic (pH-6.0)
and has a characteristic odour.
• Various conditions can affect the characteristics of urine.
• Analysis of urine helps in clinical diagnosis of many metabolic
disorders and malfunctioning of the kidney.
• E.g. Glycosuria (presence of glucose) and Ketonuria (ketone
bodies) in urine indicates diabetes mellitus.

1. Lungs: Remove CO2 (18 litres/day) and water.

2. Liver: Secretes bile containing bilirubin, biliverdin, cholesterol,
degraded steroid hormones, vitamins and drugs. Most of them pass
out along with digestive wastes.
3. Skin (Sweat glands & sebaceous glands): Sweat contains water, NaCl,
small amounts of urea, lactic acid, etc. Primary function of sweat is to
give a cooling effect on body surface. Sebaceous glands eliminate
sterols, hydrocarbons, waxes etc. through sebum. Sebum provides a
protective oily covering for the skin.. Saliva eliminates small amounts
of nitrogenous wastes.

- It is done by hormonal feedback mechanisms involving the hypothalamus, JGA and the heart.
- Changes in blood volume, body fluid volume and ionic concentration activate Osmoreceptors in the body.

• When body fluid level decreases, the osmoreceptors stimulate hypothalamus to release antidiuretic hormone
(ADH). It stimulates water reabsorption from DCT & collecting duct. Thus, ADH prevents diuresis and increases
body fluid volume. Increase in fluid volume switches off the osmoreceptors and suppresses ADH release to
complete the feedback.
• ADH constricts blood vessels resulting in an increase of BP. This increases the glomerular blood flow and GFR.

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 • JGA (Juxta glomerular apparatus) is a sensitive region formed by cellular modification of DCT and the afferent
arteriole at the location of their contact.
• JGA regulates the GFR.
• A fall in glomerular blood flow/glomerular blood pressure/GFR activates the JG cells to release renin.
• Renin converts angiotensinogen in blood to angiotensin 1 and further to angiotensin II (a vasoconstrictor).
• Angiotensin II performs the following functions:
• Increases glomerular blood pressure and thereby GFR.
• Activates adrenal cortex to release Aldosterone.
• Aldosterone causes reabsorption of Na+ and water from the distal parts of the tubule. This also leads to an
increase in blood pressure and GFR.

• ANF check on the renin- angiotensin mechanism.

• An increase in blood flow to the atria of the heart causes the release of Atrial Natriuretic Factor (ANF).
• ANF causes vasodilation (dilation of blood vessels) and thereby decreases the blood pressure.

• Uremia: Accumulation of urea in blood which may lead to kidney failure.

• Renal calculi: Stone or insoluble mass of crystallized salts (oxalates, etc.) formed within the kidney.
• Glomerulonephritits: Inflammation of glomeruli.

• In patients with uremia, urea is removed by hemodialysis.

• The dialyzing unit (artificial kidney) contains a coiled
cellophane tube surrounded by dialyzing fluid. It has same
composition of plasma except nitrogenous wastes.
• Blood drained from a convenient artery is pumped into
dialyzing unit after adding anticoagulant like heparin.
• The porous cellophane membrane of the tube allows the
passage of molecules based on concentration gradient.
• As nitrogenous wastes are absent in dialyzing fluid, these
substances freely move out, thereby clearing the blood.
• The cleared blood is pumped back to the body through a
vein after adding anti-heparin to it.

• It is the ultimate method in the correction of acute renal

failures. A functioning kidney is taken from a donor.
• It is better to receive kidney from a close relative to
minimize chances of rejection by immune system of host.

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