kidney Flashcards
what are the different ways in which humans regulate their internal environment?
-thermoregulation
-osmoregulation
-excretion
what is thermoregulation?
maintaining body temperature within a tolerable range
what is osmoregulation?
regulating solute balance and gain/loss of water
what is excretion?
removal of nitrogen-containing waste products of metabolism such as urea.
when there’s a selectively permeable membrane, what are the two sides and what do they mean?
-hyperosmotic: higher solute concentration, less free H2O molecule
-hypoosmotic: lower solute concentration, more free H2O molecule
what are the different components to osmoregulation?
1) controlling movements of solutes between internal fluids and the external environment
2) this also regulates water movement, which follows solutes by osmosis.
3) must also remove metabolic waste products before they accumulate to harmful levels.
how do we maintain the composition of the cells of the body?
maintenance of the composition of body’s cells is primarily accomplished by managing the composition of the interstitial fluid that bathes the cells
how do we regulate interstitial fluid?
regulate the interstitial fluid indirectly by controlling the composition of blood
what do the kidneys do?
kidneys of vertebrates are specialized for the maintenance of fluid composition
what is transport epithelium?
1) move specific solutes in controlled amounts in particular directions
2) are arranged into complex tubular networks with extensive surface area
what determines the kind and direction of solutes that move across a transport epithelium?
molecular structure of plasma membranes determines the kinds and directions of solutes that move across the transport epithelium
what happens when we want metabolic wastes to exit the body? what does this have an impact on?
most metabolic wastes must be dissolved in water when they are removed from the body so the quantity of waste products may have a large impact on water balance
what is the breakdown of nitrogenous waste?
what is the main nitrogenous waste I humans?
urea
why is urea the main form of nitrogenous waste in humans? what is the advantage of urea?
Enzymes remove nitrogen in the form of ammonia (very toxic molecule).
Urea is synthesized in the liver by combining ammonia with carbon dioxide.
Main advantage of urea is its low toxicity, about 100,000 times less than that of ammonia
what is the link between water and urea?
Urea can be transported and stored safely at high concentrations, reducing the amount of water needed for nitrogen excretion.
why are animal cells sensitive? what is their relation to water?
Animal cells - which lack cell walls - swell and burst if there is a continuous net uptake of water or shrivel and die if there is a substantial net loss of water
what is the best state of solution for an animal cell?
isotonic solution
what happens to an animal cell in a hypnotic solution?
lysed
what happens to an animal cell in a hyerptonic solution?
shrivelled
true or false, the excretory system is central to homeostasis?
true
what does erythropoietin do?
regulates RBC production
what does renin do?
regulates blood pressure
what does the excretory system?
1) disposes of metabolic wastes
2) controls body fluid composition by adjusting the rates of loss of particular solutes.
3) Producing erythropoietin (regulates RBC production)
and renin (regulates blood pressure)
4) Activating vitamin D
how does the excretory system produce urine?
1) blood is filtered and the collected fluid is called filtrate
2) composition of the collected fluid is adjusted by selective reabsorption of valuable substances and secretion of toxins and excess ions
3) excretion of the contents of the tubule.
what happens during the initial filtration of blood process, where the filtrate is formed?
involves filtration through the selectively permeable membranes of transport epithelia, largely nonselective
what does the transport epithelia retain during filtration?
These membranes retain cells as well as proteins and other large molecules from the body fluids
what forces the filtrate into the excretory system?
Hydrostatic pressure forces water and small solutes, such as salts, sugars, amino acids, and nitrogenous wastes, collectively called the filtrate, into the excretory system
what do nephrons do?
Each of your kidneys is made up of about a million filtering units called nephrons. Each nephron includes a filter, called the glomerulus, and a tubule. The nephrons work through a two-step process: the glomerulus filters your blood, and the tubule returns needed substances to your blood and removes wastes.
what are the layers of the nephrons?
cortex, inner medulla, outer medulla
what does the nephron look like?
what happens during reabsorption?
Use active transport to selectively reabsorb valuable solutes such as glucose, certain salts, and amino acids back into the blood.
- Nonessential solutes and wastes are left in the filtrate or added to it by selective secretion.
- Pumping of various solutes also adjusts the osmotic movement of water into or out of the filtrate.
what supplies blood to the kidney?
renal artery and a renal vein 9renal vein goes back to heart)
how many times of the total blood volume does the kidney filtrate?
In humans, the kidneys account for less than 1% of body weight, but they receive about 20% of resting cardiac output. Kidneys filter body’s entire plasma volume 60 times each day
how does urine exit the kidney?
Urine exits the kidney through a duct called the ureter, and both ureters drain through a common urinary bladder which empties via the urethra
what controls urination?
Sphincter muscles near the junction of the urethra and the bladder control urination
what are the two distinct regions of the kidney?
an outer renal cortex and an inner renal medulla
what does each nephron consist of?
Each nephron consists of a single long tubule and a ball of capillaries, called the glomerulus
what does each kidney region contain?
Both regions are packed with microscopic excretory tubules, nephrons, and their associated blood vessels
what is the bowman’s capsule?
Blind end of the tubule forms a cup-shaped swelling, called Bowman’s capsule, that surrounds the glomerulus
what is the glomerulus?
ball of capillaries, called the glomerulus. The capillaries of the glomerulus are highly porous, part of nephron
how many nephrons does each kidney have?
millions
what’s the glomerulus?
They are a type of capillaries. These capillaries are each contained within the Bowman’s capsule and they are the only capillary beds in the body that are not surrounded by interstitial tissue
how does filtration occur?
Filtration occurs as blood pressure forces fluid from the blood in the glomerulus into the lumen of Bowman’s capsule
how does the filtration in the bowman’s capsule occur?
Porous capillaries, along with specialized capsule cells called podocytes, are permeable to water and small solutes but not to blood cells or large molecules such as plasma proteins
what does the filtrate in Bowman’s capsule contain?
Filtrate in Bowman’s capsule contains salt, glucose, vitamins, nitrogenous wastes, and other small molecules
after the bowman’s capsule, where does the filtrate pass?
1) the proximal tubule
2) the loop of Henle, a hairpin turn with a descending limb and an ascending limb
3) the distal tubule which empties into a collecting duct, which receives processed filtrate from many nephrons.
what’s the loop of henle?
a hairpin turn with a descending limb and an ascending limb
what is the distal tube?
the distal tubule which empties into a collecting duct, which receives processed filtrate from many nephrons
what do the ducts empty into?
The many collecting ducts empty into the renal pelvis, which is drained by the ureter