11. Animal Physiology : 11.3 Kidneys Flashcards
What do metabolic processes produce?
Waste, breakdown of products of protein digestion
Detoxification products from your liver
Metabolic waste products
List three main forms of excreted nitrogenous waste in animals.
Urea
Uric acid
Ammonia
What happens to ammonia in humans and marine animals?
- In humans, ammonia is immediately converted into urea
- Fish and aquatic invertebrates have mechanisms that allow the fast disposal of ammonia before it builds up in body tissues
Is uric acid soluble in water?
No
What is an advantage of uric acid?
The process of converting ammonia to uric acid requires a lot of energy but it conserves water.
How can animals be classified as osmoredulators or osmoconformers?
Depending on the strategies used to achieve water balance
Define osmoregulator.
Organisms that are able to keep or regulate the solute concentration of their body fluids above or below that of their external environment.
- Have the ability to control the osmolarity of tissues with narrow limits
- Changes in environment does not have effect on them
Define osmoconformers.
Marine organisms that actively or passively maintain an internal environment that is isosmotic to their external environment.
- Cannot regulate the solutes of their body fluids at a concentration
- solute concentration of their body fluid is the same as the solute concentration of the external medium in which the organisms live
What are the causes of over-hydration?
Causes of over hydration:
- When the normal balance of electrolytes in body exceeds limit
- Diseases that encourage water accumulation in the body
List the consequences of overhydration.
Consequences:
- Swelling up of body cells
- Swollen cells in brain lead to intracranial pressure
- As the pressure increases, the blood flow to the brain can be interrupted, leading to dysfunction in the central nervous system, seizures, coma or even death
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Changes in mental state
- Muscle weakness or cramps
- Unconsciousness
What is dehydration caused by?
Caused by: Vigorous exercise Intense diarrhoea Vomiting Fever Excessive sweating Not taking in enough fluids
List the consequences of dehydration.
Consequences of dehydration:
- Dark urine : more urobilin or urochrome
- More elastic skin
- Heart rate and breathing rate increases
- Blood pressure decreases because there is a decrease in blood volume
- Affect the ability to sweat and may cause damage to brain
- Death
What is the role of kidneys in removing nitrogenous wastes?
- Filter your blood to rid of nitrogenous waste
- Regulate osmolarity
- Produce urine
List removed compounds in blood that is going out.
Removed compounds in blood: drugs, salt, water, toxins and nitrogenous wastes
How does blood flow through the kidney?
Blood goes in through renal artery and goes out through renal vein, so concentrations higher in artery than in vein
What is the blood going in consists of?
High concentrations of : Drugs Salt Oxygen Water Toxins glucose
What is the blood going out consists of?
High concentrations of :
Carbon dioxide
URINE
Define a nephron.
A long tube which starts at the bowman’s capsule and ends at the collecting duct, which drains in the renal pelvis.
What is the structure and function of a bowman’s capsule?
Highly porous wall which collects the filtrate