1.

EXCRETORY SYSTEM
a. Organs
i. Skin
1. Excretes excess water, salts, and urea (a nitrogenous waste
product) through sweat
ii. Lungs
1. Exhales carbon dioxide and some water vapor that is taken
from the blood
iii. Liver
1. Converts nitrogen wastes from breaking down proteins into
urea, which is then transported to the kidneys
2. Cells are constantly replacing themselves to keep removing
toxins and waste products from the body
iv. Kidneys
1. Fist-sized, bean-shaped organs located in the lower back
2. Filter out water, urea, and metabolic wastes from the blood
b. Urinary System
i. This is a subsystem of the whole excretory system in which the
kidneys produce urine
ii. The ureters transport the urine produced to the urinary bladder
iii. The bladder is connected to the urethra, which is a tube that can be
constricted or relaxed voluntarily to release the urine
c. Kidneys
i. Filtration of blood
1. Waste-laden (oxygenated) blood enters through the renal
(kidney) artery
2. The kidney removes wastes
3. Clean (deoxygenated) blood leaves the kidney through the
renal vein
ii. 3 portions
1. Cortex: outermost portion of the kidney
2. Medulla: innermost portion of the kidney
a. Separated into sections called pyramids
3. Renal Pelvis: cavity in center of kidney
a. Collects urine and is connected to the ureter
iii. Nephron
1. Functional unit of the kidney
a. 1 kidney has roughly 1 million nephrons
2. Tube and closely associated blood vessels

a. The tube of the nephron winds through the cortex to

the medulla, to the cortex, and then back to the
medulla, and finishes in the pelvis
3. Anatomy of Nephron
a. Bowmans capsule: hollow bulb-shaped cavity in the
cortex (start of the nephron)
i. Glomerulus: dense ball of capillaries in the
Bowmans capsule
ii. Most of the filtration occurs in the glomerulus
b. Convoluted Tubule
i. Winding tube from Bowmans capsule and
ends at collecting duct
ii. Hairpin shaped middle of the tube is called the
Loop of Henle
iii. A dense system of capillaries around loop
1. Another capillary bed is the glomerulus,
both of which merge into the renal vein
iv. Main function is to reabsorb useful nutrients
back into the blood
c. Collecting Duct
i. Where filtrate from the Loop of Henle is
emptied into (and empties into pelvis)
ii. There are no blood vessels around this because
all it contains is waste
iii. Multiple nephrons can join into the collecting
duct
4. The main function of the nephron is filtration and
reabsorption
a. Filtration
i. Removal of the waste from passing
liquids/gases (specifically blood)
ii. Liquid from the glomerulus goes into the
nephron (from both active and passive
transport)
1. This is the filtrate (all small molecules,
large molecules are broken down in the
liver)
iii. Filtrate enters Bowmans capsule and travels
into the convoluted tubule

b. Reabsorption
i. Process where water and dissolved substances
are returned to the blood
ii. Most of the filtrate is reabsorbed into the blood
in the convoluted tubule
1. Mainly salts, vitamins, fats, sugars,
amino acids
iii. Only takes back what the body needs, in the
concentration that the body needs
1. Excess of nutrients is considered waste
and is ejected
iv. Excretion
1. Urine flows to ureter to bladder to urethra
v. Kidneys maintain homeostasis
1. Excreting waste, regulating blood pressure, assisting other
systems
2. Controlled by blood
a. Excess in blood is excreted
vi. Also controlled by endocrine system
1. When dehydrated, the pituitary gland releases antidiuretic
hormone, which makes the kidneys take in less water, and
excrete less water
vii. Urinalysis
1. Color can be an indicator of good/poor health
2. Can show diabetes, diseases, and traces of drugs
viii. Kidney Problems
1. Kidney stones
a. Wastes like calcium crystallize in kidney
b. Can be hard to pass and cause pain
2. Kidney failure
a. Can be caused by many things, like diabetes or high
blood pressure
b. Usually solved by a kidney transplant or dialysis