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Q4 Lesson 5 Excretory System

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22 views5 pages

Q4 Lesson 5 Excretory System

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Krishie Mae Moral
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Q4-Lesson 5: Regulation of Body Fluids

Osmoregulation is control of the osmotic pressure of body fluids of


an organism to preserve the homeostasis of the body's water
content; that is, it regulates the fluid equilibrium and the
concentration of electrolytes (salts in solution) to prevent the fluids
from being too diluted or too concentrated.

Types of Osmoregulation
1. Osmoconformers- are species that attempt to balance the
osmolarity of their bodies with their surroundings. In other words,
these species sustain the same osmotic pressure within the body as
outside the body. They adhere by active or passive means. Most
aquatic invertebrates, such as starfish, jellyfish and lobsters, are
osmoconformers.
2. Osmoregulators -Osmoregulators are species that actively
control their osmotic pressure, regardless of the external
environment. Many vertebrates, including humans, are
osmoregulatory. Many freshwater fish are also known to be
osmoregulatory.

Osmoregulation in Different Organisms


- Osmoregulation in Plants Plants use stomata on the lower side of
their leaves to control water loss. Plants developing in hydrated
soils compensate for water depletion by transpiration by absorbing
more water from the soil. Plants that thrive in Discover 5 semi-arid
areas retain water in the vacuoles and have dense, fleshy cuticles
to avoid lack of water.
- Osmoregulation in Freshwater Fish Freshwater fish are
hypertonic to the surrounding environment, which means that the
concentration of salt in their blood is greater than that of the
surrounding water. They consume a regulated volume of water
through the mouth and membranes of the gill. Because of this
ingestion of water, they create huge volumes of urine in which a lot
of salt is lost. Salt is supplemented by mitochondrial-rich cells in
the gills. These cells absorb salt from the surrounding water into
the blood.
- Osmoregulation in Marine Fish Compared to freshwater fish,
marine fish have the opposite problem. They have a greater
percentage of water in their blood than the environment. As a
consequence, there is a tendency to lose water and to absorb salt.
To solve this problem, marine fish drink vast volumes of water and
limit urination. Other extra energy consumption often occurs when
these species constantly need to remove salt from the body
(through the gills).
- Osmoregulation in Bacteria Bacteria use a transport system to
capture electrolytes as the osmolarity surrounding them increases
Osmotic stress stimulates certain genes in bacteria that synthesize
osmoprotectants. Osmoregulation in Higher Forms of Animals
Animals have a well-developed excretory mechanism that helps to
retain the water lost from the body, while preserving osmotic
pressure.

Aldosterone, angiotensin II, and antidiuretic hormones control the


process of absorption. Any water and electrolytes are often lost by
sweating. Osmoreceptors in the brain hypothalamus regulate the
thirst and secretion of ADH. ADH opens the water channels of
aquaporins that cause the water to flow. As a result, the kidneys
begin to absorb water until the pituitary gland begins producing
ADH.

Nitrogen Waste
Nitrogen waste is the result of protein synthesis. Amino groups are
separated from amino acids prior to the conversion of the energy.
NH2 (amino group) is mixed with hydrogen ion (proton) to form
ammonia (NH3). Ammonia is very harmful and is typically excreted
directly from marine organisms. Terrestrial animals usually need to
conserve water. Ammonia is converted to urea, a substance that
the body can handle at higher concentrations than ammonia. Birds
and insects secrete uric acid that they waste a lot of energy but no
water loss. Amphibians and rodents secrete the urea they form in
their liver. Amino groups are transformed into ammonia and, in
turn, is turned into urea, dumped into blood and concentrated in
the kidneys.

Excretory Systems

The excretory system controls the chemical makeup of body fluids


by eliminating metabolic waste and maintaining sufficient
quantities of water, salts and nutrients. Components of the
vertebrate organ include the kidneys, liver, lungs, and skin.
Functions of the Excretory system
1. Collect water and filter body fluids.
2. Remove and concentrate waste products from body fluids and
return other substances to body fluids as necessary for
homeostasis.
3. Eliminate excretory products from the body.

Invertebrate Excretory Organs


-Many invertebrates, such as flatworms, use nephridium as an
excretory organ (Figure 2). At the end of each blind nephridium
tube, there is a ciliated flame cell. If the fluid moves into the tubule,
the solutes are reabsorbed and transferred to the body fluids. For
insects, body fluids are drained into the Malphigian tubules by
osmosis leading to high amounts of potassium within the tubule.
Body fluids flow back into the body, nitrogenous wastes empty into
the insect's intestine. Water is being reabsorbed and waste is being
expelled from the insect (Figure 3).

The Human Excretory System

The urinary system consists of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and


urethra. The nepron is the functional unit of the kidney. Waste is
filtered from the blood and stored as urine in each kidney. Urine
leaves the kidneys by ureters and stored in the bladder. The
bladder can distend to store urine that eventually leaves through
the urethra. The Nephron The nephron consists of a cup-shaped
capsule containing capillaries and glomerulus and a long renal
tube. Blood flows through the kidney through the renal artery,
which flows through the capillaries associated with the glomerulus.
Arterial pressure allows water and blood solutes to filter into the
capsule.
The nephron has three functions:
1. Glomerular filtration of water and solutes from the blood.
2.Tubular reabsorption of water and conserved molecules back into
the blood.
2. Tubular secretion of ions and other waste products from
surrounding capillaries into the distal tubule.

Nephrons filter 125 ml of body fluid per minute; filtering the entire
body fluid component 16 times each day. In a 24 hour period
nephrons produce 180 liters of filtrate, of which 178.5 liters are
reabsorbed. The remaining 1.5 liters forms urine.

Urine Production
1. Filtration in the glomerulus and nephron capsule.
2. Reabsorption in the proximal tubule.
3. Tubular secretion in the Loop of Henle.

Components of The Nephron


• Glomerulus: mechanically filters blood
• Bowman's Capsule: mechanically filters blood
• Proximal Convoluted Tubule: Reabsorbs 75% of the water, salts,
glucose, and amino acids
• Loop of Henle: Countercurrent exchange, which maintains the
concentration gradient
• Distal Convoluted Tubule: Tubular secretion of H ions, potassium,
and certain drugs.

Kidneys perform a number of homeostatic functions:


1. Maintain volume of extracellular fluid
2. Maintain ionic balance in extracellular fluid
3. Maintain pH and osmotic concentration of the extracellular fluid.
4. Excrete toxic metabolic by-products such as urea, ammonia, and
uric acid.

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