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Osmoregulation is the active regulation of the osmotic pressure of an organism's body fluids, detected by osmoreceptors, to maintain the homeostasis of the organism's water content; that is, it maintains the fluid balance and the concentration of electrolytes (salts in solution which in this case is represented by body fluid) to keep the body fluids from becoming too diluted or concentrated.
The osmolytes are neutral non-electrolytes, except in bacteria that can tolerate salts. [6] In humans, osmolytes are of particular importance in the renal medulla. [8] Osmolytes are present in the cells of fish, and function to protect the cells from water pressure.
Fluid balance is an aspect of the homeostasis of organisms in which the amount of water in the organism needs to be controlled, via osmoregulation and behavior, such that the concentrations of electrolytes (salts in solution) in the various body fluids are kept within healthy ranges.
A simple means of estimating renal function is to measure pH, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and basic electrolytes (including sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate). As the kidney is the most important organ in controlling these values, any derangement in these values could suggest renal impairment.
The fluid is isotonic because as ions are reabsorbed by the gradient time system, water is also reabsorbed maintaining the osmolarity of the fluid in the PCT. Substances reabsorbed in the PCT include urea, water, potassium, sodium, chloride, glucose, amino acids, lactate, phosphate, and bicarbonate.
The excretion of urea is called ureotelism. Land animals, mainly amphibians and mammals, convert ammonia into urea, a process which occurs in the liver and kidney. These animals are called ureotelic. [3] Urea is a less toxic compound than ammonia; two nitrogen atoms are eliminated through it and less water is needed for its excretion.
Those strong electrolytes are substances that are completely ionized in water, whereas the weak electrolytes exhibit only a small degree of ionization in water. [1] The ability for ions to move freely through the solvent is a characteristic of an aqueous strong electrolyte solution.
These include the nitrogenous wastes urea, from protein catabolism, and uric acid, from nucleic acid metabolism. The ability of mammals and some birds to concentrate wastes into a volume of urine much smaller than the volume of blood from which the wastes were extracted is dependent on an elaborate countercurrent multiplication mechanism. This ...