URINARY SYSTEM

I. INTRODUCTION

• Urinary system is a group of organs in the body concerned with filtering out
excess fluid and other substances from blood stream.
• It consists of a pair of kidneys, a pair of ureters, a urinary bladder and a urethra
• Metabolic wastes as urea, uric acid, creatinine and other materials (like drugs and
their metabolites), in excess are toxic and accumulate in blood. They must be
removed to maintain homeostasis.
• Urinary system organs remove these waste products from the blood and then from
the body.
• The substances are filtered out from the body in the form of Urine
• Urine is a liquid produced by the kidney (final product of the renal processes),
collected in the bladder and excreted through the urethra.

 Urinary Organs:
The organs of the urinary system include the:
1. Kidneys: the functional unit of the urinary system
2. Ureters: are small tubes that carry urine from each kidney to the urinary
bladder through peristaltic movements.
3. urinary bladder: The urinary bladder stores the urine.
4. Urethra: is a tube that carries urine from the urinary bladder to the outside

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 A. Kidney (Renal):
• A kidney is a reddish brown, bean-shaped organ with a smooth surface
• In the adult it is about 12 centimeters long, 6 centimeters wide, and 3
centimeters thick
 Location:
a. they lie in the upper part of abdominal cavity against the dorsal body
wall
b. they are embedded in a protective layer of fat and connective tissue
c. right kidney is slightly on a lower level than the lift
 Structure: Each kidney consist of about 1 million basic function units called
nephrons where blood filtering and urine formation occur.
• The kidney consist of
a. renal capsule: tough fibrous shell around kidney
b. Cortex: outer portion of kidney
c. Medulla: inner portion of kidney
d. renal pyramids : cone shaped masses of tissue in renal medulla;
e. The Pelivis: superior end of ureter which is expanded to form a
funnel shape The pelvis leads to the ureter
f. ureter : tube leading from kidney;
g. major calyces : divisions of renal pelvis (2-3 tubes);
h. minor calyces : divisions of major calyces.

 Function of the Kidneys:

a. remove metabolic wastes from blood & excrete them to

outside (urine).
b. control the concentration of most of the constituents of the
body fluids.
- regulation of RBC formation (by erythropoietin);
- Regulation of arterial pressure (secrete rennin Na+
balance);
- Regulation of blood volume
- Regulation of water and electrolyte balances
- Regulation of acid-base balance
- converts vitamin D to its active form (regulate calcium
ion absorption)
- Production of
- Renin
- Erythropoietin

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 Nephron:
• is the functional unit of the kidney, located in both the cortex and medullary
areas
• Two types of nephrons
a. cortical - lie mainly in cortex (80%)
b. juxtamedullary - loops dip to end of medulla (important in urine
concentration/conserving water)
• Structure: each nephron is composed of:
1. The glomerulus: is a tuft of capillaries that lie in Bowman's capsule.
- The afferent arteriole carries blood into the glomerulus
- The efferent arteriole carries blood away.
- The peritubular capillaries, which arise from the efferent arteriole, aid
in the tubular reabsorption process by surrounding the various
segments of the renal tubule.
2. proximal convoluted tubule (PCT )
3. distal convoluted tubule (DCT)
4. descending and ascending loop of Henle
5. collecting duct: drains fluid from several nephrons to renal pelvis
6. Juxtaglomerular Apparatus (JGA) = point of contact between the
afferent arteriole and DCT. (regulates kidney function)

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 Function of nephron components:
1. Glomerulus:
- Function : filtration of water and dissolved substances from the
plasma.
- Glomerulus capsule: receives the glomerulus filtrate
2. proximal convoluted tubule (PCT):
- the major site for reabsorption of water and solutes from the
filtrate into the interstitial fluid and then into blood capillaries
- reabsorb glucose, amino acids, creatine, uric, phosphate, sulfate,
calcium, K and Na by active transport.
- reabsorb water by osmosis
3. descending loop of Henle:
- reabsorption of water by osmosis into the interstitial fluid
- it is impermeable to solutes
4. ascending loop of Henle: reabsorbs solutes
- reabsorption of K, Na and Cl by active transport.
- impermeable to water
5. distal convoluted tubule (DCT):
- reabsorption of Na by active transport.
- reabsorption of water by osmosis
- active secretion of hydrogen ions
- secretion of K
- drains into a collecting duct
6. collecting duct:
- reabsorbs a small amount of water by osmosis

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 Urine Formation

- Urine is the end-product of the renal processes, it is a liquid Composed of

• 95% water;
• 5% other includes: urea, uric acid, trace amino acids and electrolytes.
- Nephrons produce the Urine through three main processes (steps):
1. Glomerular filtration
2. Tubular reabsorption
3. Tubular secretion

a. Glomerular filtration:
- nonselective process - everything but cells and plasma proteins are filtered
- Capillaries are fenestrated
- substances move (filter) through the glomerular capillary walls from the
blood to the glomerular capsule (collected in Bowman's Capsule)- Large
molecules (proteins, cells) remain in the arterioles, whereas smaller
molecules (glucose, urea, sodium, chloride, potassium, bicarbonate,
calcium, etc.) pass through the glomerular capillary walls to become part of
the filtrate.
- The force that moves substances through glomerular filtration are
hydrostatic pressure and osmotic pressure of plasma and the hydrostatic
pressure of the fluid in the glomerular capsule
1. 55- 60 mmHg in glomerular capillaries;
2. 15 mmHg in Bowman’s capsule
- The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is about 115-125 mL of filtrate
formed per minute by the glomeruli. The renal tubules will reabsorb all
but 1 mL of the filtrate, which will be passed in the urine.

 Filtration membrane:
- glomerular capillaries are 100x more
permeable than other capillaries
- basement membrane (collagen for strength
and glycoproteins with a negative charge
that repels plasma proteins
- inner layer of glomerular capsule: the
podocytes wrap around capillaries and form
filtration slits

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 Forces (Filtrate Pressure):
The main force that moves substances by filtration through the glomerular
capillary wall is hydrostatic pressure of the blood
a. Blood pressure (hydrostatic pressure PH):
- Outward filtration pressure of 55 mm Hg : Constant across capillaries due to
restricted outflow (efferent arteriole is smaller in diameter than the afferent
arteriole)
b. Colloid osmotic pressure (π)
- Opposes hydrostatic pressure at 30 mm Hg
- Due to presence of proteins in plasma, but not in glomerular capsule
(Bowman’s capsule)
c. Capsular hydrostatic pressure (P fluid):
- fluid pressure created by fluid in Bowman’s capsule
- Opposes hydrostatic pressure at 15 mm Hg
d. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) = Kf x net filtration pressure
- (Kf = filtration coefficient, collective properties of filtration membrane)
e. Net filtration pressure = Blood hydrostatic pressure PH - osmotic pressure (π) -
Capsular hydrostatic pressure (P fluid) = 55 -30 – 15= 10 mm Hg
f. 10 mm Hg of filtration pressure creates a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 125
ml/min which equates to a fluid volume of 180L/day entering the glomerular
capsule.

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 Regulation of Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR)
- GFR remains relatively constant through a process called autoregulation
- mechanisms responsible for keeping the GFR constant include:
a. Myogenic response: directly affected by blood pressure/blood volume:
b. involves juxtaglomerular apparatus (JGA); Specialized cells between in the
afferent arterioles
c. hormones like renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system
d. sympathetic system

b. Tubular Reabsorption:
- Reabsorption is the process by which filtered water, ions, and molecules
leave the tubules for return to the blood via the peritubular capillaries.
(selective recovery of filtered substances)
- Most of the reabsorption takes place in the proximal convoluted tubule
(PCT) through passive and active transport processes diffusion -facilitated
diffusion and osmosis)
• 125 ml of plasma filtered by glomerular, 124ml reabsorbed during passage through
the renal tubules.
• Reabsorbed substances include:
1. glucose
2. amino acids
3. water
4. ions (sodium, chloride, phosphate, sulfate, potassium)
5. others (creatine, lactic acid. citric acid, urea, uric acid, ascorbic acid)
• Anti-diuretic hormone and aldosterone play an important role in retention of
both water and sodium in Henl's loop, DCT and collecting tubules.

c. Tubular secretion:
- is the process by which substances are transported from the blood in the
peritubular caps into the DCT.
- Maintains ion concentrations in blood (i.e. if the blood is high in K+, K+
will be secreted into urine).
 Excretion of wastes
• Wastes are by-products of metabolism:

1. urea from amino acid metabolism;

2. uric acid from nucleotide metabolism)
• Wastes are reabsorbed by tubules, but are then secreted back
into urine & excreted.

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 Micturition: is the process by which urine is expelled from urinary bladder to
outside.
 Elimination of Urine
Starts at glomerulus where glomerular filtrate is collected in
Bowman's capsule
|
PCT
|
loop of Henle
|
DCT
|
collecting duct (urine)
|
minor calyx
|
major calyx
|
renal pelvis
|
ureter

| (peristalsis)
urinary bladder
| (micturition)
urethra
|
outside

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