URI

NARYSYSTEM
Mar
ieCri
sG.Amer i
l
a
MSAni
malScience(
AS703)

I
ntr
oduct
ion
Theur inarysy stem ref erstot hest ructur
est hatpr oduceandt ranspor tur i
net o
thepoi ntofexcr etion.Alsoknownast her enalsy stem orur i
naryt ract, consistsoft he
kidney s,ureters,bladder ,andt heur ethra.Thepur poseoft heur inarysy stem isto
eli
mi nat ewast efrom t hebody ,r
egul atebl oodv olumeandbl oodpr essur e,contr ol
l
ev elsofel ectrolytesandmet aboli
tes, andr egulat ebl oodpH.Theur inar ytractist he
body '
sdr ainagesy stem f ort heev ent ualremov al ofur ine.Theki dney shav ean
extensi vebloodsuppl yviat her enal arteri
eswhi chl eav et hekidney sv i
at herenal vei
n.
Eachki dneyconsi stsoff unct ionaluni t
scal lednephr ons.Fol lowi ngfiltrationofbl ood
andf urtherpr ocessing, wast es( i
nt hef orm ofur i
ne)exi tt hekidneyv i
at heur eters,
tubesmadeofsmoot hmuscl ef i
brest hatpr opelur inet owar dst heur inar ybladder ,
wher ei ti
sst oredandsubsequent lyexpel ledfrom t hebodybyur ination( voi
ding) .The
femal eandmal eur i
narysy stemsar ev erysi mil
ar, differingonl yint hel engt hoft he
urethra.
Uri
neisf
ormedinthekidneyst
hroughafi
ltr
ati
onofbl ood.Theuri
neisthenpassed
thr
oughtheur
eter
stothebladder,
whereiti
sstored.Duringur
inat
ion,
theuri
neis
passedf
rom t
hebladderthr
oughtheur
ethratotheout si
deofthebody.
800–2,
000mi
ll
il
i
ters(mL)ofur
inearenormall
yproducedever
ydayi
naheal
thyhuman.
Thi
samountv
ariesaccor
dingt
oflui
dintakeandkidneyf
uncti
on.

Howdoest
heur
inar
ysy
stem wor
k?
Thebodytakesnut
ri
ent
sfrom f
oodandchangest
hem toenergy.Aft
erthebodyhas
takent
hefoodcomponent
sthati
tneeds,wast
epr
oduct
sareleftbehindint
hebowel
andint
heblood.

Thekidneyandur i
nar
ysystemshel pthebodytogetri
dofli
qui
dwast ecal
ledurea.They
alsohelpt o keepchemical
s( suchaspot assi
um andsodium)andwat eri nbalance.
Ureaispr oducedwhenf oodscont ai
ningprot
ein(suchasmeat ,poul
tr
y ,andcertai
n
veget
ables)ar ebrokendowni nt hebody.Ureaiscarri
edinthebloodtot hekidneys.
Thisi
swher eitisr
emoved,alongwithwaterandotherwast
esintheform ofuri
ne.

Thekidneyshaveotheri
mpor tantfunct
ions.Theycont r
olbloodpr
essureandpr oduce
thehormoneerythr
opoieti
n.Thi shormonecont rol
sr edbloodcellproducti
oni nthe
bonemar r
ow.Thekidneysalsocontrolt
heacid-basebalanceandconserv
ef l
uids.
A. Theanat
omyoft
heki
dney

TheKi
dney
The kidneys 
inmammal sar ebean-shapedor ganst hatl
ieintheabdomi nalcav it
y
attachedt ot hedorsalwal lonei t
hersideoft hespine.Anar t
eryfrom thedor salaorta
calledt he 
r enalart
ery 
suppl i
esbl oodtot hem andt he 
renalvein 
dr ai
nst hem.Tot he
nakedey eki dneysseem si mpleenoughor gans.Theyar ecoveredbyaf i
brouscoator
capsul eandi fcuti
nhalflengt hways(longitudinall
y)t wodisti
nctregionscanbeseen-
an i nnerr egion or
 medul l
a and the outer cortex.A cav i
tywithi
nt he kidneycal l
ed
the pelvis 
collectsthe ur ine and car r
ies i tt ot he 
ureter
,whi ch connect s wi th
the bladder wher et
heurinei sstoredtempor ari
ly.Ringsofmuscl e( sphincters)control
ther eleaseofur i
nefrom thebladderandt heur i
neleav esthebodythr oughthe ur et
hra.
Thefunctionofthekidneysistomai ntai
nt hevol
umeandcomposi t
ionofpl
asma,
regul
atewat er
,ionandpHl ev el
s,r
etainnut r
ientsandexcretewaste,toxinsandexcess
elect
rolyt
es.The kidneys achievet hese funct i
ons vi
a glomerularfiltr
ati
on,sol
ute
reabsorpti
on,t
ubularsecret
ion,andwat erbalanceandacid-baser
egulation.
Theki dneysar epair
edor ganswhi chresi
deinthel ef
thandsi deandr ighthand
si
deoft hedor salabdomenr especti
vely
,andt heyform during dev
elopment  
fr
om the
i
ntermediat
emesoder m.Theirroleisto 
fi
lter
 t
hebloodthrought herenalcorpuscl
e;thi
s
compri
sesacapi l
larytuf
tknownasagl omeruluswhichissurroundedbyt heBownam' s
capsul
ewi t
hint he nephr
on;themov ementoff l
uidandsol ublemat eri
alacrossthese
structuresf ormswhati sknownast hef i
lt
rate.Thef i
l
trateist henmost lyreabsor bed
along t he nephr on unt i
lwhati sl eftcompr i
ses compounds super fluous t ot he
requirement s of t he ani mal
.Some compounds,nor mallyf ull
yr eabsor bed,ar e
occasi onall
ypr esenti nt hebodyinexcess-t hekidneyt ubul
esar eabl et or espondt o
thisexcessandexcr etesuchcompoundsi ngreateramount s.Int hiswayt heki dneys
playamaj orrolei nt hehomeost asi
sofanani mal.Theki dneysal sopl ayav it
alr ol
e
i
n totalwat erbal ance, vary
ingthei
rexcreti
onofwat eri
nr el
ationtot hehy drationstatus
of t he ani mal.Medi call
y,the phy si
ology of t he kidney s can be mani pulated
using diureti
c drugs,whi chinhi
bitt
her eabsorpti
onofwat erfrom thet ubulesresultingin
ani ncreasei nvolumeandt her
efor
ewat erlossintheurine.
Theki dneysreceiv
e25% ofcar diacoutput.From t hi
st heyf i
l
ter20% oft he
plasmaf ormingaf i
lt
rateofwhi challbut1%i sreabsorbed.Thisequatestot heent i
re
ci
r culat
oryv ol
umebei ngfi
lteredandreabsorbedevery30mi nutes.Thekidneysr espond
dynami call
yt o changes in blood pressure and hy drat
ion stat
us,usi ng sev eral
mechani smsof  r
egulat
ioni ncl
udingthe Reni
n-Angiot
ensin-Al
dosteronesy st
em  which
canal t
ert hemov ementofsodi um chlori
deandwat eri nthev ascularsystem and
ext r
acell
ularspaces.
The ki
dneys areresponsi
blef orthe product
ion and r
elease oftwo hor
mones -
Ery
thr
opoiet
inandRenin,whi
char epr
oducedintheJuxtagl
omer ul
arCel
l
s.Thekidney
s
al
soregul
atetheact
ivat
ionofvi
taminD.

Ki
dneyTubul
esorNephr
ons
Iti
sonlywhenyouexamineki
dney sundert
hemicr
oscopethaty
oufi
ndthatthei
r
str
uct
ureisnotsimpleatall.Thecortexandmedullaareseent obecomposedof
massesoft i
nytubes.Thesearecal
led ki
dneytubul
es 
or 
nephr
ons.Ahumanki dney
consi
stsofoveramil
li
onofthem.
Atoneendofeachnephr on, inthecor t
exoft hekidney,isacupshapedst ruct
ure
called t
he (Bowman’ s 
or 
renal) 
capsule.I tsur rounds a tuf tofcapi l
l
ari
es call
ed
the gl
omerulusthatcarr
ieshigh-pressureblood.Toget herthegl omerulusandcapsule
actasabl ood-f
il
teri
ng.Theholesi nt hefil
terallowmostoft hecont entsoftheblood
throughexceptthe r
edandwhi tecells 
and largepr ot
einmol ecules.Thef l
uidfl
owing
from thecapsul
ei ntotherestoft hekidneyt ubuleisthereforev er
ysi mil
artoblood
plasmaandcont ai
nsmanyusef ulsubstancesl i
kewat er,gl
ucose, sal
tandami noacids.
Italsocont
ainswasteproductslike ur
ea.

Pr
ocessesOccur
ri
ngI
nTheNephr
on
Afterenteri
ngtheglomer ul
usthef
il
teredf l
uidf
lowsalongacoi ledpartoft he
t
ubul
e( the pr
oximalconvolut
edt ubul
e)t
oal oopedporti
on(the LoopofHenl e)and
t
hentot he coll
ecti
ngtube vi
aasecondl engthofcoiledtube( t
he di
stalconv ol
uted
t
ubul
e).Fr om thecollect
ing ductstheuri
nef lowsintothe 
renalpelv i
s and ent
ers
t
he 
ureter.
Not
ethatt
hegl
omer
ulus,capsul
eandbot
hcoi
l
edpar
tsoft
het
ubul
ear
eal
l
si
tuat
edi
nt hecor
texoft
heki
dneywhi
l
ethel
oopsofHenl
eandcol
l
ect
ingduct
smake
upthemedull
a.
Ast heflui
df l
owsal ongthepr oxi
malconv ol
utedtubul
eusefulsubstancesl i
ke
glucose,water,
salts,
pot assium i
ons,calci
um ionsandaminoacidsare r
eabsorbed i
nto
thebloodcapill
ari
est hatform anet workaroundthetubul
es.Manyoft hesesubstances
aretransport
edbyact ivetransportandenergyisrequi
red.
Inaseparat
eprocess,somesubstances,
part
icul
arl
ypotassi
um,ammoni um and
hydrogenions,anddr
ugsl i
kepeni
cil
l
in,areacti
vel
y 
secret
ed 
intothedi
stalconvol
uted
tubule.
Byt heti
met heflui
d hasr eached thecol l
ecti
ng ductsthesepr ocessesof
absorpti
onandsecr eti
onhav echangedt hef l
uidor igi
nall
yfi
lt
eredintotheBowman’ s
capsuleint
ourine.Themai nf unct
ionoft hecollectingductsisthentor emov emore
waterf r
om theurinei fnecessary
.Nor malur ine consist
sofwat er,inwhi chwaste
productssuchasureaandsal tssuchassodi um chl ori
dearedissol
ved.Pigmentsfrom
thebreakdownofredbloodcellsgiveuri
nei t
syellowcol or.

ThePr
oduct
ionofConcent
rat
edUr
ine
Becauseoft hehighpr essureoft hebloodi ntheglomerulusandt helar
gesi zeof
theporesinthegl omerulus/capsule-
fi
lteringdevice,anenormousv ol
umeoff lui
d
passesintothekidneyt ubules.I
fthisfluidwerelef tasiti
s,t
heani mal’
sbodywoul dbe
drai
neddr yin30mi nutes.Infact,asthef lui
dflowsdownt hetubule,over90%oft he
wateri
ni tisreabsorbed.Themai npar toft hi
sreabsor pti
ontakesplaceinthecollecti
ng
tubes.
Theamountofwat erremov edfrom thecollect
ingductsiscont r
olledbya
hormonecal l
ed 
ant i
diuret
ichormone( ADH)  producedbyt he 
pit
uitarygl
and, sit
uat
edat
thebaseoft hebrain.Whent hebloodbecomesmor econcentrated,ashappenswhen
ananimal i
sdepr i
vedofwat er,ADHi ssecretedandcausesmor ewat ertobeabsor bed
from t
hecol l
ect
ingduct ssothatconcent r
atedur i
neisproduced.Whent heanimalhas
drunkplentyofwaterandt hebloodisdi l
ute,noADHi ssecr et
edandnoorl itt
lewateri
s
absorbedfrom t
hecol lect
ingducts,sodiluteurineisproduced.I
nt hiswayt he
concentrat
ionofthebl oodiscontrol
ledprecisely.

Ot
herFunct
ionsoft
heKi
dney
Theexcret
ionofureafr
om t
hebodyandt hemaintenanceofwat erbal
ance,as
descri
bedabove,aret
hemainfunct
ionsofthekidney.Howev er
,theki
dneyshaveother
rol
esinkeepi
ngconditi
onsi
nthebodystablei.
e.inmaintai
ninghomeostasis.These
i
nclude:

 cont
rol
li
ngtheconcent
rat
ionofsal
tions(Na+,
K+,
Cl-
)int
hebl
oodby
adj
usti
nghowmuchi sexcret
edorretai
ned;
  Maintai
ningthecor
rectaci
dit
yofthebl
ood.Excessaci
disconst
antl
ybei
ng
pr
oducedbyt henormalchemical
react
ionsi
nthebodyandthekidney
el
i
mi nat
est hi
s.

Nor
mal
Uri
ne
Normal
uri
neconsi
stsofwat
er(
95%),
urea,
sal
ts(
mostlysodi
um chl
ori
de)and
pi
gments(
mostl
yfrom bi
l
e)t
hatgi
vei
tit
schar
act
eri
sti
ccolour
.

Abnor
mal
Ingr
edi
ent
sofUr
ine
Ifthebodyi
snotworki
ngproperl
y,smallamountsofsubst
ancesnotnor
mally
presentmaybefoundi
ntheurineorsubstancesnor
mallypr
esentmayappearin
abnormalamounts.

 Thepr
esenceof
 gl
ucose 
mayi
ndi
cat
edi
abet
es.

 Ur
inewi
thr
edbloodcel
lsi
nitiscal
l
ed 
haematuri
a,andmayi
ndicat
e
i
nfl
ammati
onoftheki
dney
,oruri
nar
ytr
act,
cancerorabl
owtothekidney
s.

 Somet
imesfr
ee 
haemoglobin 
isf
oundint
heuri
ne.Thisi
ndicat
esthatt
hered
bl
oodcel
l
sinthebloodhav
e haemol
ysed 
(t
hemembr anehasbrokendown)
andt
hehaemoglobi
nhaspassedint
otheki
dneytubul
es.

 Thepr
esenceof
 whit
ebloodcel
ls 
i
ntheur
inei
ndi
cat
est
her
eisani
nfect
ion
i
ntheki
dneyoruri
naryt
ract
.

 Protei
nmol ecules 
areusuall
ytoolarget opassint
ot hekidneyt
ubulesono
oronlysmallamount sofprotei
nslike al
bumin i
snormallyfoundinuri
ne.
Largequantit
iesofalbuminindicat
et hattheki
dneytubuleshavebeeninj
ured
orthekidneyhasbecomedi seased.Hi ghbloodpressurealsopushes
protei
nsfrom thebloodint
ot hetubules.

 Casts 
aret
inycyli
nder
sofmater
ial
thathav
ebeenshedf
rom t
hel
i
ningoft
he
tubul
esandflushedouti
ntot
heuri
ne.

 Mucus i
snotusual
lyf
oundintheur
ineofheal
thyani
mal sbuti
sanormal
const
it
uentofhor
ses’ur
ine,
givi
ngi
tacharact
eri
sti
ccloudyappear
ance.
Testscanbecarri
edouttoident
if
yanyabnor
malingredi
ent
sofuri
ne.These
test
sarenormall
ydoneby“ st
ix”
,whi
charesmallpl
asti
cstr
ipswi
thabsorbent
endsimpregnat
edwithvari
ouschemical
s.Acol
ourchangeoccur
sinthe
 pr
esenceofanabnor
mal
ingr
edi
ent
.

Excr
eti
oni
nBi
rds
Bi
rds’
highbodyt emper
atur
eandlevelofactiv
itymeansthattheyneedtoconser
vewater
.
Bi
rdsther
eforedonothaveabladderandinsteadofexcr
etingurea,whi
chneedstobe
di
ssol
vedinlargeamountsofwater,
bir
dspr oduceuri
cacidthatcanbedischar
gedasa

Ur
inar
ysy
stem par
tsandt
hei
rfunct
ions
 Twokidneys.
 Thi
spairofpurpli
sh-brownor gans i
slocatedbelowtheri
bstowar
dthe
middl
eoftheback.Theirfuncti
onist o:
o Re movewast eproductsandmedi ci
nesf r
om thebody
o Ba l
ancethebody '
sflui
ds
o Ba l
anceav ari
etyofelectr
olyt
es
o Re l
easehormonest ocont r
olbloodpr essure
o Re l
easeahor monet ocontrolredbloodcellproduct
ion
o He l
pwithboneheal t
hbycont roll
ingcalcium andphosphor
us

Theki dneysremoveureafrom thebloodthroughtinyf

il
ter
ingunitscall
ednephrons.
Eachnephr onconsi
stsofabal lfor
medofsmal lbl
oodcapill
ari
es( gl
omerul
us)anda
smal l
t ubecall
edarenalt
ubule.Urea,toget
herwi t
hwaterandot herwastesubstances,
formst heurineasi
tpassesthrought henephronsanddownt her enalt
ubulesofthe
kidney.

 Twour eters.
 Thesenarr
owtubes carr
yurinefr
om t
hekidneystot hebladder
.Muscl es
i
nt heureterwall
skeept i
ght
eningandr el
axi
ng.Thi
sforcesuri
nedownwar d,
awayf rom
thekidneys.Ifur
inebacksup,ori
sallowedtostandsti
ll
,akidneyinfecti
oncandev elop.
Aboutev ery10to15seconds,smal l
amount sofur
ineareempt i
edintothebladderfrom
theureters.

 Bladder. 
Thistr
iangl
e-shaped,holl
owor ganislocatedinthelowerbell
y.I
tisheldin
placebyligamentsthatareat t
achedtoot herorgansandt hepel
vicbones.Thebladder
's
wallsrel
axandexpandt ostoreuri
ne.Theycont ractandfl
at t
ent
oempt yurinethr
ough
theurethra.Thetypi
calhealthyadul
tbladdercanst oreupt o2cupsofurinefor2to5
hours.

 Twosphinct
ermuscles. 
Theseci
rcul
armuscl
es 
hel
pkeepuri
nef
rom l
eaki
ngbycl
osi
ng
ti
ght
lyl
i
kear ubberbandaroundt
heopeni
ngofthebl
adder
.

 Ner
vesi
nthebl
adder
. 
Thener
vesal
ertani
ndi
vi
dual
wheni
tist
imet
our
inat
e,orempt
y
 t
hebl
adder
.

 Ur
ethr
a. 
Thistubeall
owsurinetopassout si
dethebody .Thebr ai
nsi
gnalsthebl
adder
muscl
estotight
en.Thissqueezesurineoutofthebladder.Atthesamet i
me,thebr
ain
si
gnal
sthesphinct
ermusclestor el
axtoleturi
neexitthebladderthr
oughtheuret
hra.
Whenallt
hesignal
shappeni nthecorrector
der,nor
mal urinat
ionhappens.

Whati
sthemechani
sm ofmi
ctur
it
ion?
Urinat
ion,alsocal l
ed Mi
ct uri
ti
on,t
hepr ocessofexcr eti
ng 
uri
ne 
fr
om the uri
nar
y
bl
adder .Nervecent ersforthecontrolofur
inationarelocatedinthe 
spi
nalcord,the
br
ainstem, andthe cer ebr
alcortex(theout
ersubst anceoft helar
geupperporti
onofthe
br
ain).Bot hi
nvolunt ar
yandv oluntarymusclesareinvolved.
Itist heejectionof  urine f
rom the ur
inarybladder  t
hr oughthe urethra 
tothe
outsideoft hebody .Inheal t
hyhumans( and manyot herani mal s)
,theprocessof
uri
nat i
oni sunderv ol untarycont rol
.Ininfants,someel der lyindivi
duals,andt hosewit
h
neurological i
njury,urinationmayoccurasani nvoluntary refl
ex.Phy si
ologicall
y,
micturit
ioni nvolvescoor di nati
onbet weent he central
, 
aut onomi c,and somat icner
vous
systems.Br aincenter sthatr egulat
eur i
nationincludet he pont i
nemi cturi
tion
center,
 periaqueduct al gray ,
andt he 
cerebral cort
ex.In placent almammal s t
hemal e
ej
ect surinet hrought he peni s,andthef emalet hr
ought he vulva.

CONCLUSI
ON

 Theexcr etorysystem consist

sofpai
red 
kidney
s andassociat
edblood
supply.
 Ureters t
ransporturi
nefr
om theki
dneystothebladderand
the 
urethra withassociatedsphi
nct
ermusclescontr
olstherel
easeofuri
ne.

 Thekidneyshav
eani mport
antrol
ei nmaintaini
ng homeostasis 
i
nthebody.
Theyexcret
ethewasteproducturea,cont
roltheconcentrat
ionsofwat
erand
sal
tinthebodyfl
uids,
andregulat
et heaci
dityoftheblood.

 Akidneyconsi
stsofanouterr
egi
onor 
cort
ex,
 
inner
 medul
la 
andacav
ity
cal
l
edt he 
pel
vi
s thatcol
l
ectst
heuri
neandcar
riesi
ttot
heureter
.

 Theti
ssueofakidneyi
scomposedofmassesofti
nyt
ubescal
led 
kidney
tubul
es 
or 
nephr
ons.Thesear
ethest
ruct
urest
hatmaketheur
ine.

 High-pr
essurebloodissuppl
iedtothenephronv i
aat uf
tofcapi
ll
ari
escal
led
the 
glomerulus.Mostofthecontent
softhebl oodexceptt
hecellsandl
arge
protei
nmol ecul
esfi
lterf
rom thegl
omerulusintothe(Bowmans)
capsule.
 Thisfl
uidf
lowsdownacoi ledpartofthetubul
e(proxi
mal
 convol
utedtubule)whereusef ulsubstancesli
keglucose, aminoacidsand
var
iousionsarereabsorbed.Thef l
uidflowstoal oopedpor t
ionoft hetubule
cal
ledthe 
LoopofHenl e wherewat eri
sr eabsorbedandt hentoanot her
coi
ledpartoft
het ubul
e( di
stalconv ol
utedtubule)wheremor ereabsorbti
on
andsecreti
ontakesplace.Finall
ythefluidpassesdownt he coll
ecting
duct 
wherewaterisreabsorbedt oform concentrat
edurine.

Ref
erences
htt
ps:
//en.
wiki
books.org/wi ki
/Anat omy _and_ Physiol
ogy _of_
Animals/Uri
nary_
Sys
tem
htt
ps:
//en.
wiki
vet.
net/Ur i
nary_Sy stem_Ov erv
iew_-_Anatomy _%26_Physi
ology
htt
ps:
//www.bri
tannica.com/ science/urinat i
on
htt
ps:
//www.urmc.rochester .
edu/ encyclopedi a/
content.aspx?Content
TypeID=85
&Cont
entID=P01468
htt
ps:
//www.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ ar
ticles/PMC2897743/
htt
ps:
//www.nursi
ngt i
mes. net/…/ t
he-phy siol
og…/ 205495.arti
cle