5.2.1 - Excretion Flashcards
(125 cards)
Excretion definition
The removal of metabolic waste from the body
What substances are removed in excretion
- Nitrogen containing compounds, e.g. urea
- Carbon Dioxide
- Bile pigment, found in faeces
List the four excretory organs
Skin
Lungs
Kidneys
Liver
How does excretion occur in the lungs?
- CO2 is produced as a waste product of respiration
- CO2 is passed from cells of respiring tissues into the blood stream
- It is transported (mostly as HCO3- ions) to the lungs
- CO2 then diffuses into the alveoli to be excreted
How does excretion occur in the skin?
- excretion is not the primary function of the skin
- Sweat contains a large range of substances
- It contains: salts, urea, water, Uric acid and ammonia
- Urea, uric acid and ammonia are all excretory products
What excretion processes occur in the liver?
- Directly involved in excretion
- Has many metabolic roles:
- removing bilirubin
- converting excess amino acids into urea
How does excretion occur in the kidneys?
- urea is transported in the blood stream to travel to the kidneys
- it is transported in solution - dissolved in the plasma
- in the kidneys, urea is removed to become part of urine
How is CO2 made?
Produced as a waste product of aerobic respiration
How is CO2 transported?
Transported mainly as HCO3- ions dissolved in the blood plasma
How is CO2 removed?
It is breathed out from the alveoli in the lungs in aerobic respiration
Why is excess CO2 toxic?
- Causes increase in HCO3- ions
- Decreases pH of the blood
- Causes acidosis
- Enzymes in red blood cells, blood and body denature
- Etc.
Explain the importance of excretion in metabolism and homeostasis (3)
- Some products of metabolic reactions are toxic
- they must be removed in order to prevent buildup and damage to cells/death - E.g. aerobic respiration produces carbon dioxide which can cause respiratory acidosis if it builds up (makes pH of blood more acidic).
- It needs to be excreted by breathing it out from the lungs - Removal of metabolic waste using negative feedback (loop) mechanism ensures the internal environment of the body stays constant
What can high buildup of CO2 cause?
Acidosis:
-
Blood supply of the liver structure
- Hepatic portal vein
- Hepatic Artery
- Hepatic vein
Function of bile
- Emulsify lipids
- Neutralise stomach acids
Function of hepatic artery
- bring oxygenated blood from the heart
- supplies hepatocytes with oxygen etc., needed for aerobic respiration
Function of hepatic portal vein
- brings deoxygenated blood from the intestines/gut/duodenum
- this may contain toxic compounds which need detoxification or products of digestion for storage
- storage of gluocse as glycogen
- thin wall, larger lumen
Function of the bile duct
- bile is made in the hepatocytes (exocrine) and secreted into the bile canaliculi (enclosed space) which drains into the bile duct
- bile is stored in the gall bladder until release into the small intestine
- bile emulsifies lipids and neutralises stomach acid
Mixing of blood in liver
- The blood from the hepatic artery and hepatic portal vein mix and go into a sinusoid
- this sinusoid is closely surrounded by liver cells
- sinusoids remove molecules from the blood, e.g. glucose
- they also release others back into the blood, e.g. fibrinogens
- The idea behind mixing the blood is to increase oxygen content for the hepatocytes
Where does blood from the sinusoid drain into?
- Drains into the intra-cellular hepatic vein
- this returns the blood to the heart
- Always in the centre - drain towards it (?)
What are hepatocytes?
Liver cells
Function and structure of Kupffer cells
- Has many functions
- These are specialised macrophages found in sinusoids that break down RBCs.
- product of this breakdown is released into the bile duct to be sent to the digestive system for excretion
- e.g. bilirubin from haemoglobin is brown in faeces
How is the structure of the liver adapted to give a good blood supply?
- all cells and chambers in the liver are arranged to to ensure greatest contact with blood vessels
- liver is divided into lobes which are further divided into lobules.
- the lobules are cylindrical
Ornithine cycle def
A series of biochemical reactions that convert ammonia to urea