CLASS 10TH –RBISE CHAPTER 4 HUMAN URINARY SYSTEM

4.1 HUMAN EXCRETORY / URINARY SYSTEM

DEFINITION “The system involved in removal of metabolic wastes especially nitrogenous
wastes and toxic materials from the body is called excretory system.”
IMPORTANCE OF EXCRETORY SYSTEM
The urinary system regulates the internal environment of body. It ensures that waste products
and excess substances are removed from body.
COMPONENTS OF EXCRETORY/URINARY SYSTEM
The urinary system of man consists of
Component Number Location Structure Function
Kidney pair Kidneys are Outer dark red Kidney performs
located at either region is called following functions:
side of vertebral renal cortex.  Osmoregulation
column, below Inner pale red  Filtration of
liver. region is called blood
renal medulla.  Regulates blood
pressure
 Regulates blood
pH.
Ureter pair Ureters connect Thin tubes Transport urine from
kidneys to kidneys to urinary
urinary bladder, bladder.
the upper half in
abdomen and
lower half in
pelvic region.
Urinary bladder one It is located It is an elastic It temporarily stores
inside pelvic muscular bag. urine.
cavity
Urethra one At the base of It is a tube with It transports urine out
urinary bladder an internal and of the body.
an external
sphincter.
THE KIDNEYS
LOCATION AND SHAPE Kidney is a bean-shaped organ. These are located at the back of the
abdominal cavity below diaphragm, one on each side of the vertebral column. Left kidney is
slightly higher than the right one.
SIZE AND COLOUR Kidneys are dark red in colour. Each kidney is 10 cm long, 5 cm wide
and 4 cm thick.
PROTECTION OF KIDNEYS
The kidneys are protected by
 Renal capsule(tough tissue that surrounds each kidney.)
  Adipose tissue.
 11th and 12 th pair of floating ribs.
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF KIDNEY: The outer side of kidney is convex shaped and
inner side is concave shaped. The concave side of kidney faces the vertebral column. At the
center of the concave side of kidney there is a depression called hilus, where the renal artery,
renal vein and the nerves enter and leave kidney.
INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF KIDNEY
In vertical section the kidney shows the following structures
Renal cortexthe darker outer region. It is dark brown colour because of the large network of
blood capillaries.
Renal medullait is the inner light (pale red) region. The medulla consists of conical structures
called renal pyramid. The base of each pyramid faces the cortex, while its tip
faces the renal pelvis.
Renal pelvisthe hollow chamber, which extends to outside of kidneys and forms a ureter.
BLOOD SUPPLY TO KIDNEY:
Kidney receives blood rich in metabolic wastes (urea, salts and extra water) through renal
arteries and the excrete the waste in the form of urine, while clean blood returns through renal
veins to the inferior vena cava
NEPHRON
DEFINITION “The structural and functional unit of the kidney is called nephron.”
NUMBER :There are about one million nephron in each kidney.
STRUCTURE :Each nephron is composed of
 Renal corpuscle
 Renal tubule
Renal Corpuscle
The first part of [Link] consist of Bowman’s capsule and glomerulus of the Bowman’s
[Link] lies in renal cortex.
 Glomerulusa tuft of blood capillaries.
 Bowman’s capsule a double walled, hollow, cup shaped structure that surrounds
glomerulus.
Renal Tubule
It is the long tube attached to Bowman’s capsule. It has three parts
 Proximal convoluted tubule the coiled part that begins after Bowman’s capsule.
 Loop of Henlethe U-shaped structure which consists of a) Descending limb b)
Ascending limb.
 Distal convoluted tubule the last highly coiled part of nephron.
 Collecting ductsthe DCTs of many nephrons finally merge to form collecting duct.
The collecting ducts join and form the larger ducts called papillary ducts. These ducts empty
into renal pelvis.
Blood Supply
Blood enters glomerulus through afferent arteriole and leaves through efferent arteriole. Efferent
arteriole after leaving glomerulus forma a network of capillaries around renal tubule called
peritubular capillaries.
 Dorsal aortarenal arterysegmental arteriesinterlobular arteriessmaller arteriesafferent
arterioles glomerular capillariesefferent arteriolesperitubular capillaries + vasa
rectavenulesinterlobular veinsrenal veininferior vena cava
4.2 FUNCTIONING OF THE KIDNEY
URINE FORMATION
The main function of kidney is urine formation which takes place in three steps.
 Pressure filtration
 Selective reabsorption
 Tubular secretion
PRESSURE FILTRATION
Occurrence
It occurs in glomerulus of renal corpuscle.
Mechanism
Formation of Glomerular Filtrate
With each heart beat blood enters kidneys via renal arteries, then blood goes into many smaller
arteries than into afferent arterioles and finally into glomerular capillaries. These capillaries join to
form efferent arterioles having smaller diameter as compared to afferent arterioles.
Renal artery smaller arteriesafferent arterioleglomerular capillariesefferent
arteriole
As a result, the pressure of blood becomes very high. This forces small molecules like water,
glucose, amino acids, salts and urea from the pores present in walls of glomerular capillaries into
cup shaped Bowman’s capsule enclosing glomerulus. It is called glomerular [Link] is about 20%
of the blood plasma that entered glomerulus.
Unfiltered Substances Blood cells and proteins are not filtered through glomerular capillaries
because they are too large to pass through the pores in capillary walls.
SELECTIVE REABSORPTION
Occurrence It occurs in filtrate moving in renal tubule into capillaries surrounding it.
Mechanism
About 99% of glomerular filtrate is returned back into capillaries surrounding renal tubule. It occurs
through osmosis, diffusion, facilitated diffusion and active transport.
1) Proximal Convoluted Tubule
In PCT most (about 65%) of glomerular filtrate is reabsorbed. Here, all the glucose (100%) and
amino acids return to blood, salts are reabsorbed by active transport and water by osmosis.
2) Loop of Henle
 The descending limb permeable to water, allows reabsorption of water.
 The ascending limb;permeable to salts, allow reabsorption of salts.
3) Distal Convoluted Tubule and Collecting Ducts DCT allows reabsorption of water.
The collecting duct also plays a key role in water reabsorption.
TUBULAR SECRETION
Occurrence It occurs in renal tubule.
Mechanism
When useful materials are reabsorbed into blood, some of the remaining wastes present in blood are
secreted from blood capillaries to renal tubule. In this process, different ions H+ creatinine and urea
etc. are actively secreted from blood into the renal tubule i.e. it is reverse of selective reabsorption.
It is done to maintain the pH of blood (7.35-7.45).
After the above mentioned steps, the filtrate present in renal tubule is called urine. Urine from all
nephrons moves to the renal pelvis. From renal pelvis, urine moves to the urinary bladder via ureters.
Here it is stored. When the urinary bladder is filled, urine is passed out through urethra to outside
of body moves into collecting duct then in renal pelvis.
OSMOREGULATORY FUNCTION OF KIDNEY
DEFINITION
The maintenance of water and salts in blood and body fluids is called osmoregulation. The
kidneys are osmoregulatory organs which regulate the concentration of water and salts in the
blood.
Condition 1: If the blood is dilute-dilute Urine Produced:
If the blood is dilute i.e. contains too much water, there is more ultrafiltration from glomerulus to
Bowman’s capsule and less water is reabsorbed from renal tubule into blood capillaries. Thus, a
large volume of dilute urine is produced and the amount of water in blood is brought back to
normal.
Condition 2: If the blood is too concentrated-Concentrated Urine Produced:
If the amount of water in blood is less than normal, less water is filtered from the glomerulus to
Bowman’s capsule. There is more water is reabsorbed back into the blood from renal [Link]
this way concentrated urine is produced and water is retained in blood.
Role of Anti-diuretic Hormone
Under the influence of concentration of salts and water in blood, hypothalamus produces ADH
and pituitary gland releases it.
More water in blood → less ADH released.
Less water in blood → more ADH released.
Other Functions of Kidney
Beside excretion, kidneys help to maintain:
 pH of blood.
 blood pressure.
 composition of blood plasma.
TREATMENT OF KIDNEY FAILURE
DIALYSIS
Definition “: The process of removing waste and excess water from the body using dialysis fluid
is called dialysis.”
To remove the nitrogenous wastes the blood of the patient is treated through dialysis.
Types: There are two types of dialysis:
(a) Haemodialysis (b) Peritoneal dialysis
a. Haemodialysis
Definition:” The dialysis in which a machine called dialyzer is used to remove waste and water
from blood is called hemodialysis.”
Mechanism :In hemodialysis, patient’s blood is pumped through the machine called dialyzer. It
contain long tubes through which the patient’s blood flows. These tubes separate the patient's
blood from the dialysis fluid which flows around the tubes, while dialysis fluid flows around the
tubes. The walls of the tubes act as semipermeable membranes. Urea, extra salts and water
diffuses out of the blood, across the walls of the tubes, into the dialysis fluid. The patient's
cleaner blood passes back into the body. Fresh dialysis fluid enters the machine from one end.
The used dialysis fluid with waste leaves the machine from the other end.
Frequency: This dialysis is done 3 times per week in dialysis centers
b. Peritoneal Dialysis
Definition: “The dialysis which uses peritoneum to remove waste and excess fluid from body is
called peritoneal dialysis.”
Mechanism
In this process, the dialysis fluid is pumped into the peritoneal cavity which is the space around
gut. The peritoneum (richly supplied with blood vessels) lines the peritoneal cavity functions as
the dialysis membrane. Dialysis fluid is added to the abdominal cavity through the tube. It is left
for several hours before removal. Exchange takes place between the dialysis fluid and the tissue
fluid in the abdomen and the dialysis fluid is later drained out.
Advantages: This type of dialysis can be performed at home. It must be done regularly, 3 or 4
times a day.
Frequency: Dialysis fluid is taken out and put in 3 or 4 times a day. Patient can perform normal
life activities
Disadvantage: There are chances of developing peritonitis.
2. Kidney Transplant
Definition: "The replacement of patient's diseased kidney with donor's healthy kidney is called
kidney transplant."
Sources: The kidney of a healthy person can be transplanted to a diseased one. The kidney may
be donated by a donor who
 May be a Living or deceased person.
 May or may not be relative of the patient.
Preliminary Tests: The tissue and blood chemistry of the donor should be similar to that of the
patient. If the kidney is not matching 'tissue rejection' may occur and the patient's immune
system destroys the donated kidney.
Procedure: The donor's kidney is mostly placed in patient's body and is connected to patient's
blood and urinary system.
Life Span of Transplanted Kidney A transplanted kidney, may work normally in patient body
for 10 – 15 years.
Risk Factors After transplant the patient may face
 Transplant rejection.
 Salt imbalance leading to bone problems and ulcers.