Excretion

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WHAT IS EXCRETION?
• Excretion is the elimination of

metabolic waste materials like
ammonia, urea, uric acid etc.,
from the body.
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TYPES OF EXCRETION
TYPES OF EXCRETION
Ammonotelism
Ureotelism
Uricotelism
TYPES OF EXCRETION
1. Ammonotelism
• Process of excretion of NH3.

• Ammonotelic animals: Aquatic
invertebrates, bony fishes,
aquatic amphibians, tadpoles,
aquatic insects etc.
• NH3 is highly toxic. So excretion
needs excess of water.
TYPES OF EXCRETION
2. Ureotelism
• Process of excretion of urea.
• In liver, NH3 is converted into less toxic
urea for conservation of water. This is
called Ornithine cycle.
• For excretion urea requires only
moderate quantity of water.
• Ureotelic animals: Terrestrial & semi-
aquatic amphibians (frogs, toads etc),
cartilaginous fishes, aquatic or semi-
aquatic reptiles (alligators, turtles) etc.
TYPES OF EXCRETION
3. Uricotelism
• Process of excretion of uric acid.

It is insoluble in water. So water
is not required for excretion.
• Uricotelic animals: Birds,
terrestrial reptiles, insects, land
snails and some land crustaceans.
EXCRETORY ORGANS IN ANIMALS
Excretory organ Seen in
Platyhelminthes, rotifers, some
Protonephridia (flame cells)
annelids and cephalochordate
Nephridia Annelids
Malpighian tubules Insects
Antennal glands (green glands) Crustaceans

Kidneys Higher animals
HUMAN EXCRETORY SYSTEM
A pair of Kidneys
A pair of ureters
Urinary bladder
Urethra
STRUCTURE OF KIDNEY
• Reddish brown, bean-shaped
structures enclosed in a tough, 3-
layered fibrous capsule.
• It is 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.
STRUCTURE OF KIDNEY
• 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.
STRUCTURE OF KIDNEY
• Each kidney has outer cortex and
inner medulla.
• Medulla has few conical
projections called renal pyramids
(medullary pyramids) projecting
into the calyces.
• Cortex extends in between the
medullary pyramids as renal
columns called Columns of Bertini.
STRUCTURE OF KIDNEY: AT A GLANCE
NEPHRON
• Each kidney has nearly one

million tubular nephrons.
• Nephrons are the structural &
functional units of kidney.
• Each nephron has 2 parts:
Glomerulus and Renal tubule.
NEPHRON: GLOMERULUS
• Glomerulus is a tuft of
capillaries formed by afferent
arteriole (a fine branch of renal
artery).
• Blood from the glomerulus is
carried away by an efferent
arteriole.
NEPHRON: RENAL TUBULE
• Renal tubule begins with a

double walled cup-like
Bowman’s capsule, which
encloses the glomerulus.
• Glomerulus + Bowman’s capsule
= Malpighian body (Renal
corpuscle).
• The tubule continues with

proximal convoluted tubule
(PCT), Henle’s loop & distal
convoluted tubule (DCT).
• Henle’s loop is hairpin-shaped.
It has descending & ascending
limbs.
• The DCTs of many nephrons

open into 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.
NEPHRON
• Malpighian body, PCT & DCT are
situated in renal cortex.
• Loop of Henle dips into medulla.
• The efferent arteriole emerging from
glomerulus forms a fine capillary
network (peritubular capillaries)
around the renal tubule.
• A minute vessel of this network runs
parallel to the Henle’s loop forming a
‘U’ shaped vasa recta.
TYPES OF NEPHRON
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.
URINE FORMATION
Glomerular
3 STEPS OF URINE
filtration
FORMATION
Reabsorption
Tubular Secretion
URINE FORMATION
1. Glomerular filtration
Glomerular capillary blood

pressure causes filtration of blood
through the following 3 layers:
• Endothelium of glomerular blood
vessels.
• Epithelium of Bowman’s capsule.
• Basement membrane between
these 2 layers.
URINE FORMATION
• Epithelial cells (podocytes) of

the Bowman’s capsule are
arranged in an intricate manner
leaving some minute spaces
called filtration slits (slit pores).
URINE FORMATION
• Almost all constituents of blood
plasma except the proteins pass
onto the lumen of Bowman’s
capsule.
• About 1100-1200 ml of blood is
filtered by kidneys per minute. It
constitutes 1/5th of the blood
pumped out by each ventricle of
the heart in a minute.
URINE FORMATION
• The amount of the filtrate

formed per minute is called
Glomerular filtration rate (GFR).
• Normal GFR = 125 ml/minute,
i.e., 180 litres/day.
URINE FORMATION
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.
• Substances like glucose, amino
acids, Na+, etc in filtrate are
reabsorbed actively.
• Nitrogenous wastes are absorbed
by passive transport.
URINE FORMATION
2. Reabsorption
• 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.
URINE FORMATION
2. Reabsorption
• In loop of Henle, minimum
reabsorption takes place. It maintains
high osmolarity of medullary
interstitial fluid.
• Descending limb is permeable to water
but almost impermeable to
electrolytes. This concentrates the
filtrate.
• Ascending limb is impermeable to
water but allows transport of
electrolytes. So, filtrate gets diluted.
URINE FORMATION
2. Reabsorption
• 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.
URINE FORMATION
3. Tubular secretion
• Cells of PCT & DCT maintain ionic

(Na-K balance) and acid-base
balance (pH) of body fluids by
selective secretion of H+, K+ & NH3
into 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.
URINE
FORMATION:
AT A GLANCE
URINE FORMATION
Concentration of the filtrate
• 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).
URINE FORMATION
• The counter current and proximity

between Henle’s loop & vasa recta
maintain an increasing osmolarity
towards the inner medullary
interstitium, i.e., from 300
mOsmolL-1 in the cortex to about
1200 mOsmolL-1 in the inner
medulla. This gradient is mainly
caused by NaCl & urea.
URINE FORMATION
• 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 enter
the thin segment of the ascending limb
of Henle’s loop which is transported
back to the interstitium by the
collecting tubule.
URINE FORMATION
• This transport of substances
facilitated by Henle’s loop & vasa
recta is called Counter current
mechanism.
• It maintains a concentration gradient
(interstitial gradient) in the
medullary interstitium. It helps in an
easy passage of water from
collecting tubule for concentrating
the filtrate (urine).
URINE FORMATION
• Human kidneys produce urine

four times concentrated than
the initial filtrate formed.
REGULATION OF THE KIDNEY FUNCTION
• It is done by hormonal feedback

mechanisms involving the
hypothalamus, JGA & heart.
• Changes in blood volume, body
fluid volume and ionic
concentration activate
Osmoreceptors in the body.
1. Regulation by ADH
• When body fluid level

decreases, the osmoreceptors
stimulate the hypothalamus to
release antidiuretic hormone
(ADH or vasopressin).
• ADH prevents diuresis by
facilitating water reabsorption
from DCT and collecting duct.
1. Regulation by ADH
• An increase in fluid volume

switches off the osmoreceptors
and suppresses the ADH release
to complete the feedback.
• ADH constricts blood vessels
resulting in an increase of BP.
This increases the glomerular
blood flow and GFR.
2. Regulation by JGA
• There is a special sensitive region
called juxta glomerular apparatus
(JGA) formed by cellular modification
of DCT and the afferent arteriole at the
location of their contact.
• JGA regulates the GFR by Renin-
Angiotensin mechanism.
• A fall in glomerular blood flow/
glomerular blood pressure/GFR
activates the JG cells to release renin.
• Renin converts angiotensinogen in

blood to angiotensin I and further
to angiotensin II (a vasoconstrictor).
• Angiotensin II increases glomerular
blood pressure and thereby GFR.
• Angiotensin II also 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.
3. Regulation by ANF
• ANF check on the renin-

angiotensin mechanism.
• Increase in blood flow to the atria
of heart causes the release of Atrial
Natriuretic Factor (ANF).
• ANF causes vasodilation (dilation
of blood vessels) and thereby
decreases the blood pressure.
MICTURITION
It is the release of urine.
Steps:
Gradual filling of urinary bladder →
Stretching → Stretch receptors on
its wall send impulses to CNS →
CNS passes on motor messages →
Contraction of smooth muscles of
the bladder & simultaneous
relaxation of urethral sphincter →
Micturition.
MICTURITION
• 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 and slightly acidic
(pH-6.0).
• Urine has a characteristic odour.
MICTURITION
• Various conditions affect the
characteristics of urine.
• Urine analysis 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.
ROLE OF LUNGS, LIVER & SKIN IN EXCRETION
Lungs
• Remove CO2 (18 litres/day) and
water.
Liver
• Secretes bile containing bilirubin,
biliverdin, cholesterol, degraded
steroid hormones, vitamins &
drugs.
• Most of them pass out along with
digestive wastes.
ROLE OF LUNGS, LIVER & SKIN IN EXCRETION
Skin (Sweat & 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 and waxes through
sebum. Sebum provides a protective
oily covering for the skin.
• Saliva eliminates small amounts of
nitrogenous wastes.
DISORDERS OF EXCRETORY SYSTEM
• 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.
HAEMODIALYSIS
• 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 the
nitrogenous wastes.
• Blood drained from a convenient artery
is pumped into dialyzing unit after
adding an anticoagulant like heparin.
HAEMODIALYSIS
• 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.
KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION
• 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.
Prepared by: K.C. MUHAMMED ALI
Visit: bankofbiology.blogspot.com

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This presentation is prepared by

• Excretion is the elimination of

• Process of excretion of NH3.

• Process of excretion of uric acid.

Malpighian tubules Insects

Antennal glands (green glands) Crustaceans

• On the concave side of kidney,

• Each kidney has nearly one

• Renal tubule begins with a

• The tubule continues with

• The DCTs of many nephrons

Glomerular capillary blood

• Epithelial cells (podocytes) of

• The amount of the filtrate

• In DCT, conditional reabsorption of

• Cells of PCT & DCT maintain ionic

• Henle’s loop & vasa recta help to

• The counter current and proximity

• Human kidneys produce urine

• It is done by hormonal feedback

• When body fluid level

• An increase in fluid volume

• Renin converts angiotensinogen in

• ANF check on the renin-

• It is the ultimate method in

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