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The human urinary system, also known as the urinary tract or renal system, consists of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and the urethra.The purpose of the urinary system is to eliminate waste from the body, regulate blood volume and blood pressure, control levels of electrolytes and metabolites, and regulate blood pH.
The kidney also receives input from the parasympathetic nervous system, [23] by way of the renal branches of the vagus nerve; the function of this is yet unclear. [ 22 ] [ 24 ] Sensory input from the kidney travels to the T10–11 levels of the spinal cord and is sensed in the corresponding dermatome . [ 22 ]
Diagram showing the basic physiologic mechanisms of the kidney. The kidney's ability to perform many of its functions depends on the three fundamental functions of filtration, reabsorption, and secretion, whose sum is called renal clearance or renal excretion. That is: Urinary excretion rate = Filtration rate – Reabsorption rate + Secretion ...
The function of the kidneys is regulated by the autonomic nervous system and hormones. [36] The potential for regeneration in mature kidneys is limited [37] [38] because new nephrons cannot be formed. [39] But in cases of limited injury, renal function can be restored through compensatory mechanisms. [40]
Diagram outlining movement of ions in nephron, with the collecting ducts on the right. The collecting duct system is the final component of the kidney to influence the body's electrolyte and fluid balance. In humans, the system accounts for 4–5% of the kidney's reabsorption of sodium and 5% of the kidney's reabsorption of water. At times of ...
In other words, a juxtamedullary nephron is a nephron whose renal corpuscle is near the medulla, and whose proximal convoluted tubule and its associated loop of Henle occur deeper in the medulla than the other type of nephron, the cortical nephron. The juxtamedullary nephrons comprise only about 15% of the nephrons in the human kidney.
In the narrow sense, the term refers to the urinary system. However, as excretion involves several functions that are only superficially related, it is not usually used in more formal classifications of anatomy or function. As most healthy functioning organs produce metabolic and other wastes, the entire organism depends on the function of the ...
Blood enters the kidney through the renal artery, which in the multilobar kidney then branches in the region of the renal pelvis into large interlobar arteries that pass through the renal columns. [ 62 ] [ 63 ] The pyramids consist mainly of tubules that transport urine from the cortex, that produces it by blood filtration, to the tips of the ...