URINARY SYSTEM

• The kidneys, which maintain the purity and

constancy of our internal fluids, are perfect
examples of homeostatic organs.
• kidneys filter gallons of fluid from the
bloodstream. They then process this filtrate,
allowing wastes and excess ions to leave the body
in urine while returning needed substances to the
blood in just the right proportions.
• kidneys bear the major responsibility for
eliminating nitrogenous (nitrogen-containing)
wastes, toxins, and drugs from the body
• Disposing of wastes and excess ions is only part of
the kidneys’ work
• kidneys also regulate the blood’s volume and
chemical makeup to maintain the proper balance
between water and salts and between acids and
bases.
The kidneys regulatory functions
• By producing the enzyme renin,
they help regulate blood pressure.
• Their hormone erythropoietin
stimulates red blood cell
production in bone marrow
• Kidney cells convert vitamin D to
its active form
Organs of the Urinary System
• Kidneys
• paired ureters
• single urinary bladder
• urethra—provide temporary
storage reservoirs for urine
or serve as transportation
channels to carry it from one
body region to another
Kidneys
• located in the lower back, this is not their location
• small, dark red organs with a kidney-bean shape lie against the dorsal
body wall in a retroperitoneal position in the superior lumbar region.
• The kidneys extend from the T12 to the L3 vertebra.
• right kidney is slightly lower than the left.
• An adult kidney is about 12 cm (5 inches) long, 6 cm (2.5 inches) wide,
and 3 cm (1 inch) thick, about the size of a large bar of soap.
• It is convex laterally and has a
medial indentation called the
renal hilum.
• This is the entrance for:
Renal Artery
Renal Vein
Ureter
Nerves
Lymphatics
External Layers
• Connective Tissue, Superficial to
Deep
• Renal Fascia - Anchors to other
structures
• Adipose Capsule – Protects and
anchors
• Renal Capsule – Continuous with
Ureter
Internal Renal Anatomy
• Renal Cortex – Outer layer
• Renal Medulla – Inner region
• Renal Pyramids – Secreting
Apparatus and Tubules
• Renal Columns – Anchor the
Cortex
Internal Renal Anatomy
• Papillary ducts
empty urine into
calyces
• Calyces pass urine to
the Ureter
Blood and Nerve supply of the Kidneys

• The arterial supply of each kidney is the renal artery. As the renal
artery approaches the hilum, it divides into segmental arteries, each
of which gives off several branches called interlobar arteries, which
travel through the renal columns to reach the cortex
• Venous blood draining from the kidney flows through veins that trace
the pathway of the arterial supply but in a reverse direction—cortical
radiate veins to arcuate veins to interlobar veins to the renal vein,
which emerges from the kidney hilum and empties into the inferior
vena cava.
Nephron
• Functional and structural
unit of kidney.
Renal corpuscle filters the
blood plasma
Renal tubule modifies the
filtrate
 The Renal Corpuscle
• The Renal Corpuscle
consists of two parts:
The Glomerulus is a mass of
capillaries.
The Glomerular
(Bowman’s) Capsule has a
visceral layer of podocytes
which wrap around the
capillaries.
• The glomerular
endothelial cells have
large pores
(fenestrations) and
are leaky.

Basal lamina lies

between
endothelium and
podocytes.

Podocytes form
pedicels, between
which are filtration
slits.
The Renal Tubule
• The filtrate passes from the
glomerular capsule to the
renal tubule
• Proximal Convoluted Tubule

• Nephron Loop
Descending Loop
Ascending Loop

• Distal Convoluted Tubule

The Juxtaglomerular Apparatus
• The ascending loop
contacts the afferent
arteriole at the macula
densa.
• The wall of the
arteriole contains
smooth muscle cells;
juxtaglomerular cells.
• The apparatus
regulates blood
pressure in the kidney
in conjunction with the
ANS.
Two Kinds of Nephrons
• Cortical nephrons – 80-85% of Juxtamedullary Nephrons
nephrons • Renal corpuscle deep in cortex with
• Renal corpuscle in outer portion of long nephron loops
cortex
• Receive blood from peritubular
• Short loops of Henle extend only
capillaries and vasa recta
into outer region of medulla
• Create urine with osmolarity • Ascending limb has thick and thin
similar to blood regions
• Enable kidney to secrete very
concentrated urine
Cortical Juxtamedullary
Renal Physiology - Urine Formation
• Glomerular filtration
• Tubular reabsorption
• Tubular secretion
Urine Production
• Fluid intake is highly variable. • High intake – Dilute urine of high
• Homeostasis requires volume
maintenance of fluid volumes • Low intake – Concentrated urine
within specific limits. of low volume
• Urine concentration varies with
ADH.
Glomerular Filtration
• Glomerular filtration is a nonselective, passive process in which fluid
passes from the blood into the glomerular capsule part of the renal
tubule
• Once in the capsule, the fluid is called filtrate, and it is essentially
blood plasma without blood proteins.
• Both proteins and blood cells are normally too large to pass through
the filtration membrane, and when either of these appear in the urine,
it is a pretty fair bet that there is some problem with the glomerular
filters.
• If the systemic blood pressure is normal, filtrate will be formed. If
arterial blood pressure drops too low, glomerular pressure becomes
inadequate to force substances out of the blood into the tubules, and
filtrate formation stops
Tubular Reabsorption
• Tubular reabsorption begins as soon as the filtrate enters the proximal
convoluted tubule.
• The tubule cells are “transporters,” taking up needed substances from
the filtrate and then passing them out their posterior aspect into the
extracellular space, from which they are absorbed into peritubular
capillary blood.
• Some reabsorption is done passively, but reabsorption of most
substances depends on active transport processes, which use membrane
carriers and are very selective.
• There is an abundance of carriers for substances that need to be
retained, and few or no carriers for substances of no use to the body.
Nitrogenous waste products are poorly
reabsorbed
• Urea, formed by the liver as an • Because tubule cells have few
end product of protein membrane carriers to reabsorb
breakdown when amino acids these substances, they tend to
are used to produce energy. remain in the filtrate and are
• Uric acid, released when nucleic found in high concentrations in
acids are metabolized. urine excreted from the body.
• Creatinine, associated with • Most reabsorption occurs in the
creatine metabolism in muscle proximal convoluted tubules, but
tissue thedistal convoluted tubule and
the collecting duct are also
active.
Tubular Secretion
• is essentially tubular reabsorption in reverse.
• Some substances, such as hydrogen and potassium ions (H+ and K+)
and creatinine, also move from the blood of the peritubular capillaries
through the tubule cells or from the tubule cells themselves into the
filtrate to be eliminated in urine.
• This process seems to be important for getting rid of substances not
already in the filtrate, such as certain drugs, excess potassium, or as
an additional means for controlling blood pH
Characteristic of Urine
• In 24 hours, Filter some 150 to 180 liters of blood plasma through
their glomeruli into the tubules. only about 1.0 to 1.8 liters of urine
are produced.
• Urine, contains nitrogenous wastes and unneeded substances
• Freshly voided urine is generally clear and pale to deep yellow. The
normal yellow color is due to urochrome.
• The more solutes are in the urine, the deeper yellow its color. Dilute
urine is a pale, straw color. At times, urine may be a color other than
yellow.
• This might be a result of eating certain foods (beets, for example) or
the presence of bile or blood in the urine
• urine is sterile, and its odor is slightly aromatic. It takes on an ammonia
odor caused by the action of bacteria on the urine solutes. Some drugs,
vegetables (such as asparagus), and various diseases (such as diabetes
mellitus) alter the usual odor of urine.
• Urine pH is usually slightly acid (around 6), but changes in body
metabolism and certain foods may cause it to be much more acidic or
basic.
• Bacterial infection of the urinary tract also may cause the urine to be
alkaline
• urine is water plus solutes, urine weighs more, or is denser, than
distilled water.
• Solutes normally found in urine include sodium and potassium ions,
urea, uric acid, creatinine, ammonia, bicarbonate ions, and various
other ions, depending on blood composition.
Ureters
• are two slender tubes each 25 to 30
cm (10 to 12 inches) long and 6 mm (¼
inch) in diameter.
• Each ureter runs behind the
peritoneum from the renal hilum to
the posterior aspect of the bladder,
which it enters at a slight angle
• ureters are passageways that carry
urine from the kidneys to the bladder
• Once urine has entered the bladder, it
is prevented from flowing back into
the ureters by small valvelike
Urinary Bladder
• a smooth, collapsible, muscular sac
that stores urine temporarily.
• It is located retroperitoneally in the
pelvis just posterior to the pubic
symphysis
• three openings are seen
two ureter openings (ureteral
orifices)
single opening of the urethra
(the internal urethral orifice),
which drains the bladder
• The smooth
triangular region of
the bladder base
outlined by these
three openings is
called the trigone.
• The trigone is
important clinically
because infections
tend to persist in
this region.
• When the bladder is empty, it is
• When the bladder is really
collapsed, 5 to 7.5 cm (2 to 3
distended, or stretched by urine,
inches) long at most, and its
it becomes firm and pear-shaped
walls are thick and thrown into
and may be felt just above the
folds. As urine accumulates, the
pubic symphysis.
bladder expands and rises
superiorly in the abdominal • Urine is formed continuously by
cavity. the kidneys, but it is usually
stored in the bladder until its
• moderately full bladder is about
release is convenient
12.5 cm (5 inches) long and
holds about 500 ml (1 pint) of
urine, but it is capable of holding
 Urethra
• is a thin-walled tube that carries urine
by peristalsis from the bladder to the
outside of the body. At the bladder-
urethra junction, a thickening of the
smooth muscle forms the internal
urethral sphincter an involuntary
sphincter that keeps the urethra
closed when urine is not being passed.
• A second sphincter, the external
urethral sphincter, is formed by
skeletal muscle as the urethra passes
through the pelvic floor. This sphincter
is voluntarily controlled
• In men, the urethra is
approximately 20 cm (8 inches)
long.
• The urethra opens at the tip of
the penis after traveling down its
length. The urethra of the male
has a double function. It carries
urine out of the body, and it
provides the passageway
through which sperm is ejected
from the body
Micturition
• voiding, is the act of emptying the bladder
• the bladder continues to collect urine until about 200 ml have
accumulated. At about this point, stretching of the bladder wall
activates stretch receptors.
• the contractions become stronger, stored urine is forced past the
internal urethral sphincter (the smooth muscle, involuntary sphincter)
into the upper part of the urethra.
• It is then that a person feels the urge to void. Because the lower
external sphincter is skeletal muscle and is voluntarily controlled.
END