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Excretion is the elimination of metabolic wastes like Some amount of urea may be retained in the kidney matrix
ammonia, urea, uric acid etc. from the tissues. of some animals to maintain a desired osmolarity.
3. Uricotelism: Process of excretion of uric acid. It is water
Types of excretion
insoluble & less toxic. So, water is not needed for excretion.
1. Ammonotelism: Process of excretion of NH3.
Uricotelic animals: Insects, some land crustaceans, land
Ammonotelic animals: Aquatic invertebrates, aquatic
snails, terrestrial reptiles & birds.
insects, bony fishes, aquatic amphibians etc.
Ureotelism & uricotelism are needed for water conservation.
NH3 is highly toxic. So, excretion needs excess of water.
NH3 is readily soluble in water and is excreted by Some excretory organs in animals
diffusion through body surface or gill surfaces (in fishes) • Protonephridia (flame cells): In Flatworms, rotifers,
as ammonium ions. some annelids & cephalochordate (Amphioxus).
Kidneys do not play any significant role in its removal. Protonephridia are primarily for osmoregulation.
2. Ureotelism: Process of excretion of urea. • Nephridia: In Annelids. Help in the removal of
Ureotelic animals: Cartilaginous fishes, terrestrial & nitrogenous wastes and osmoregulation.
semi-aquatic amphibians (frogs, toads etc.), aquatic & • Malpighian tubules: In Insects. Help in the removal of
semi-aquatic reptiles (alligators, turtles), mammals etc. nitrogenous wastes and osmoregulation.
In liver, NH3 is converted into less toxic urea. So, it needs • Antennal or green glands: In Crustaceans (prawn etc.)
only moderate quantity of water for excretion. • Kidneys: In higher animals.

HUMAN EXCRETORY SYSTEM

It includes kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder & urethra. o Glomerulus: A tuft of
Structure of Kidney capillaries formed by
afferent arteriole (a
- Reddish brown,
fine branch of renal
bean-shaped
artery). Blood from
structures situated
glomerulus is carried
between the levels of
away by efferent
last thoracic & 3rd
arteriole.
lumbar vertebra.
o Renal tubule: It
- Length: 10-12 cm,
begins with a double
width: 5-7 cm,
walled cup-like
thickness: 2-3 cm.
Bowman’s capsule,
Average weight:
which encloses the glomerulus.
120-170 gm.
Glomerulus + Bowman’s capsule = Malpighian body
- It is enclosed in a
- The tubule continues with proximal convoluted tubule
tough, 3-layered fibrous renal capsule.
(PCT), Henle’s loop & distal convoluted tubule (DCT).
- On the concave side of kidney, there is an opening (hilum
- Henle’s loop is hairpin-shaped. It has descending and
or hilus) through which blood vessels, nerves, lymphatic
ascending limbs.
ducts and ureter enter
- The DCTs of many nephrons open into a collecting duct.
the kidney.
Collecting duct extends from cortex to inner parts of
- Hilum leads to funnel
medulla. They converge and open into the renal pelvis
shaped cavity called
through medullary pyramids in the calyces.
renal pelvis with
- Malpighian body (Renal corpuscle), PCT and DCT are
projections called
situated in renal cortex. Loop of Henle dips into medulla.
calyces.
- The efferent arteriole forms a fine capillary network
- A kidney has outer
(peritubular capillaries) around the renal tubule. A
cortex & inner medulla.
minute vessel of this network runs parallel to Henle’s loop
- Medulla has few conical projections called medullary forming a ‘U’ shaped vasa recta.
pyramids (renal pyramids) projecting into the calyces.
Types of nephrons
- Cortex extends in between the medullary pyramids as renal
columns (Columns of Bertini). 1. Cortical nephrons (85%): In this, the Henle’s loop is
- Each kidney has nearly one million tubular nephrons. short and extends only very little into the medulla. Vasa
recta is absent or highly reduced.
Nephron
2. Juxtamedullary nephrons (15%): In this, Henle’s loop
- Nephrons are the structural & functional units of kidney. is long and runs deep into medulla. Vasa recta present.
- Each nephron has 2 parts: Glomerulus & Renal tubule.
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URINE FORMATION (PHYSIOLOGY OF KIDNEY)

3 processes: Glomerular filtration, reabsorption & secretion. So, filtrate gets diluted.
- In DCT, conditional reabsorption of Na+ & water takes place.
1. Glomerular filtration (ultrafiltration)
- Collecting duct extends from cortex to inner parts of
- The glomerular capillary blood pressure causes filtration of medulla. It reabsorbs large amount of water to concentrate
blood through 3 layers, i.e. endothelium of glomerular urine. It also allows passage of small amounts of urea into
blood vessels, epithelium of Bowman’s capsule & a medullary interstitium to keep up the osmolarity.
basement membrane between these 2 layers.
- The epithelial cells (podocytes) of the Bowman’s capsule 3. Tubular Secretion
are arranged in an intricate manner leaving some minute - Cells of PCT & DCT maintain ionic (Na-K balance) and
spaces called filtration slits (slit pores). acid-base balance (pH) of body fluids by selective
- Almost all constituents of the blood plasma except the secretion of H+, K+ & NH3 into the filtrate and absorption
proteins pass onto the lumen of the Bowman’s capsule. of HCO3- from it.
- About 1100-1200 ml of blood is filtered by the kidneys per - Collecting duct also maintains pH and ionic balance of
minute. It constitutes 1/5th of the blood pumped out by each blood by the secretion of H+ and K+ ions.
ventricle of the heart in a minute. Mechanism of concentration of the filtrate
- The amount of glomerular filtrate formed per minute is - Henle’s loop & vasa recta help to concentrate the urine.
called Glomerular filtration rate (GFR). - The flow of filtrate in the 2 limbs of Henle’s loop and the
- Normal GFR = 125 ml/minute, i.e., 180 litres/day. flow of blood through the 2 limbs of vasa recta are in
opposite directions (counter current pattern). This is called
Counter current mechanism.
- Due to the counter current and proximity between Henle’s
loop & vasa recta, osmolarity increases from cortex (300
mOsmolL-1) to the inner medullary interstitium (1200
mOsmolL-1). This gradient is caused by NaCl & 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.
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. Thus
electrolytes and urea are retained in the interstitium and
maintain a concentration gradient (interstitial gradient)
in medullary interstitium. It enables easy passage of water
from collecting tubule to concentrate the filtrate (urine).
- Thus DCT & collecting duct produce urine four times
concentrated than the initial filtrate formed (i.e. 300
mOsmolL-1 to 1200 mOsmolL-1).

2. Reabsorption
- 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.
- Loop of Henle maintains high osmolarity of medullary
interstitial fluid.
Descending limb is permeable to water but almost
impermeable to electrolytes. This concentrates the filtrate.
In ascending limb, minimum reabsorption occurs. It is
impermeable to water but allows transport of electrolytes.
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MICTURITION E.g. Glycosuria (presence of glucose) and Ketonuria

- Gradual filling of urinary bladder causes stretching. As a (ketone bodies) in urine indicates diabetes mellitus.
result, stretch receptors on its wall send impulses to CNS. Role of Lungs, liver & skin in Excretion
The CNS passes on motor messages. It causes the ¨ Lungs: Remove CO2 (200 mL/minute) and water.
contraction of smooth muscles of the bladder and ¨ Liver: Secretes bile containing bilirubin, biliverdin,
simultaneous relaxation of the urethral sphincter. It cholesterol, degraded steroid hormones, vitamins and
results in micturition (release of urine). drugs. Most of them pass out along with digestive wastes.
- The neural mechanism causing micturition is called
¨ Skin (Sweat glands & sebaceous glands): Sweat contains
micturition reflex.
water, NaCl, small amounts of urea, lactic acid, etc.
- An adult human excretes 1 to 1.5 litres of urine (25-30 gm
urea) per day. Primary function of sweat is to give a cooling effect on
- Urine is a light yellow coloured watery fluid, slightly body surface.
acidic (pH-6.0) and has a characteristic odour. Sebaceous glands eliminate sterols, hydrocarbons,
- Various conditions affect the characteristics of urine. waxes etc. through sebum. Sebum provides a protective
- Analysis of urine helps in clinical diagnosis of many oily covering for the skin.
metabolic disorders and malfunctioning of the kidney. ¨ Saliva eliminates small amounts of nitrogenous wastes.

REGULATION OF THE KIDNEY FUNCTION

- It is done by hormonal feedback mechanisms involving the arteriole at the location of their contact.
hypothalamus, JGA and the heart. - JGA regulates the GFR.
- Changes in blood volume, body fluid volume and ionic - A fall in glomerular blood flow/glomerular blood
concentration activate Osmoreceptors in the body. pressure/GFR activates the JG cells to release renin.
- Renin converts angiotensinogen in blood to angiotensin I
1. Regulation by ADH (vasopressin)
and further to angiotensin II (a vasoconstrictor).
- When body fluid level decreases, the osmoreceptors
- Angiotensin II performs the following functions:
stimulate hypothalamus to release antidiuretic hormone v Increases glomerular blood pressure and thereby GFR.
(ADH). It stimulates water reabsorption from DCT &
v Activates adrenal cortex to release Aldosterone.
collecting duct. Thus, ADH prevents diuresis and
- Aldosterone causes reabsorption of Na+ and water from
increases body fluid volume.
the distal parts of the tubule. This also leads to an increase
- Increase in fluid volume switches off the osmoreceptors in blood pressure and GFR.
and suppresses ADH release to complete the feedback.
- ADH constricts blood vessels resulting in an increase of 3. Regulation by ANF
BP. This increases the glomerular blood flow and GFR. - ANF check on the renin- angiotensin mechanism.
2. Regulation by JGA (Renin-Angiotensin - An increase in blood flow to the atria of the heart causes
the release of Atrial Natriuretic Factor (ANF).
mechanism)
- ANF causes vasodilation (dilation of blood vessels) and
- JGA (Juxta glomerular apparatus) is a sensitive region thereby decreases the blood pressure.
formed by cellular modification of DCT and the afferent

DISORDERS OF EXCRETORY SYSTEM

• Uremia: Accumulation of urea in blood due to malfunction - The porous cellophane membrane of the tube allows the
of kidney. It may lead to kidney failure (renal failure). passage of molecules based on concentration gradient.
• Renal calculi: Stone or insoluble mass of crystallized salts - As nitrogenous wastes are absent in dialyzing fluid, these
(oxalates, etc.) formed within the kidney. substances freely move out, thereby clearing the blood.
• Glomerulonephritis: Inflammation of glomeruli. - The purified blood is pumped back to the body through a
vein after adding anti-heparin to it.
Hemodialysis
- It is a process of removal of urea in patients with uremia. Kidney transplantation
- The dialyzing unit (artificial kidney) contains a coiled - It is the ultimate method in the correction of acute renal
cellophane tube surrounded by dialyzing fluid. It has failures. A functioning kidney is taken from a donor.
same composition of plasma except nitrogenous wastes. - It is better to receive kidney from a close relative to
- Blood drained from a convenient artery is pumped into minimize chances of rejection by immune system of host.
dialyzing unit after adding anticoagulant like heparin.

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MODEL QUESTIONS
1. Terrestrial animals are generally either ureotelic or uricotelic, not ammonotelic. Why?
2. Note the relationship between first two words and fill up the fourth place
a) Bony fishes: Ammonotelism Birds:…………………
b) JG cells: Renin Atria:………………….
3. Complete the following sentences
a) Reabsorption of water from DCT is facilitated by the hormone................
b) Angiotensin ll activates the adrenal cortex to release.................
c) In cases of Kidney failure, urea can be removed by the process called................
4. Match the following
A B B
Malpighian body Urethral sphincter Oxalates
Uraemia Glomerulus Release of urine
Renal calculi Accumulation of urea Afferent and efferent arterioles
Micturition Crystallized salts Kidney failure
5. Prepare a flowchart of filtrate flow in the nephron using the flow terms.
Collecting duct, PCT, DCT, Ascending limb of Henle’s loop, descending limb of Henle’s loop, Bowman’s capsule
6. “Counter current system plays an important role in concentrating urine.” Name any two regions inside the kidney,
where the counter current system is seen.
7. Complete the flowchart given below:
(Hint: Angiotensin II, JG cells, Constricts blood vessels, Angiotensinogen, Aldosterone)
…. A …..
Fall in glomerular blood flow → …. B .... → Renin
Angiotensin I
Converting enzyme
…. C …..
Secretion of …. D ….. …. E …..
↓ ↓
Reabsorption of Na+ and water from distal Increase in BP and GFR
parts of the tubule
↓
Increase in BP and GFR
8. Observe the diagram

a) In which season ADH production is higher?

b) Why the production of ADH varies in different seasons?