A LEVEL BIOLOGY

HOMEOSTASIS
Homeostasis is a Greek word meaning staying the same. It is the process by which the internal
environment of an organism is kept constant. It is the maintenance of the internal environment
within narrow range of conditions regardless of the conditions in the external environment.

The internal environment is the immediate surroundings of the body cells. This is the tissue fluid
in most of the animals, haemolymph in insects and sap in plants.

The composition of tissue fluid must be maintained constant because cells can function normally
within narrow range of conditions.

The major important aspects/factors of the internal environment/tissue fluid that must be kept
constant include;
(i) Concentration of glucose
(ii) Concentration of salts/ions e.g Na+, K+, Ca2+ etc
(iii) Osmotic pressure
(iv) Blood PH (acid-base balance)
(v) Concentration of carbon dioxide
(vi) Water level
(vii) Level of nitrogenous wastes e.g urea
(viii) Core body temperature
Organisms which are able to maintain a constant internal environment regardless of the
environmental conditions are called regulators while those which cannot maintain a constant
internal environment are called non-regulators/conformers.

Tissue fluid and its formation

Tissue fluid is also called intercellular fluid or interstitial fluid. It is formed from blood by a process
of ultrafiltration. It involves filtering of all blood materials through the tiny pores of capillary walls
except blood cells and plasma proteins due to a hydrostatic pressure. The high pressure is brought
about by the pumping action of the heart and the narrowness of the lumens of the blood capillaries.

At the arteriole end of the capillary, blood is at high pressure due to the pumping action of the
heart and the narrow lumen of the blood capillaries. The high blood pressure forces the fluid part
of blood through the tiny pores on the basement membrane of the blood capillaries into the
intercellular space forming intercellular or tissue fluid.

Only small molecules like water, glucose, amino acids, salts/ions, etc are able to pass through the
tiny capillary pores and are therefore part of the tissue fluid while plasma proteins and blood cells
are retained because they have large molecules that cannot filter through the tiny capillary pores.
At the venule end of the capillary, blood is under low pressure and the plasma proteins which did
not leave blood also exert an osmotic pressure. As a result, some tissue fluid drains back into blood
capillaries at the venule end. The excess tissue fluid which does not pass back into blood is drained
into the open ended lymph vessels and becomes lymph fluid.

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Importance of tissue fluid

(i) It bathes all the body cells thus providing then suitable working conditions.
(ii) It is the medium from where the cells obtain metabolites such as glucose and oxygen
(iii)It is a medium to which the body sheds its metabolic wastes such as carbon dioxide
(iv) It regulates the composition of blood
(v) It forms lymph fluid

HOMEOSTATIC MECHANISMS
Homeostatic mechanisms are self-adjusting mechanisms whereby any deviation from the norm/set
point induces certain corrective measures to restore the deviations back to the norm.

Every homeostatic mechanism/control system must be composed of the following elements in

order to operate.

(i) Receptors/detectors. These are parts of the body that are able to detect any changes from
the norm in the tissue fluid and then signal the deviations e.g chemoreceptors,
osmoreceptors, thermoreceptors, etc.
(ii) Control centre. This is the part of the body that receives information from various
receptors, coordinates the information and sends out instructions to correct the deviations.
The control centre is usually the brain.
(iii)Effectors (responding organs). These are parts of the body which on receiving instructions
from the control centre about the corrective measures bring about the necessary changes to
return the system back to the norm.
(iv) Norm/set point/ reference point. This is the set level at which a system operates. It is the
optimum level for a variable being regulated.
(v) Feedback loops. These are hormones or nerve impulses that inform the receptors of any
change in the system as a result of the action of the effectors.

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FEEDBACK MECHANISMS
A feedback mechanism is the mechanism in which an input stimulus causes an output response
that feeds back to the initial input.

Negative feedback. This is a mechanism where any deviation from the norm triggers certain
corrective measures to restore the deviations back to the norm. In negative feedback mechanisms,
a stimulus causes a sensory receptor to signal the regulatory centre in the brain. The regulatory
centre then signals the effectors to respond and the response reverses/cancels the stimulus to
restore the condition to the norm.

Positive feedback. This is a mechanism in which any deviation from the norm leads into a further
deviation due to breakdown or failure of the corrective mechanism. The effect of the deviation
from the normal intensifies the original response such that the change tends to proceed in the same
direction as the direction of the initial stimulus.
Examples of positive feedback mechanisms include;
 A 10oC rise in body temperature doubles metabolic activity releasing more heat that raises
the activity even more
 During blood clotting, one clotting factor activates the other in a cascade in a cascade that
leads to formation of clot
 During child birth, oxytocin release stimulates contractions of the uterus which in turn
stimulates further oxytocin release until the foetus is expelled

NB. Positive feedback mechanisms are few in biological systems because they cause larger
deviations from the normal and may lead to unstable conditions and extreme states. This may lead
to death of the organism.

General scheme summarizing any homeostatic process

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HOMEOSTATIC CONTROL OF BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVEL

Glucose is an important requirement for the process of internal respiration by which the energy
required for all body processes is derived. The blood glucose level must be kept at a constant
concentration.

The normal blood glucose level is 90mg/100cm3 of blood. When the blood glucose level rises
above the normal (a condition known as hyperglycaemia), the beta(β) islets of Langerhans cells in
the pancreas are stimulated and secrete insulin hormone into the blood stream and is transported
to the liver. Within the liver cells, insulin has an overall effect of reducing the blood glucose level
back to the normal. This is achieved through the following ways;
 Increases the oxidative breakdown of glucose to carbon dioxide and water
 Promotes the conversion of glucose to glycogen (glycogenesis) for storage
 It promotes the conversion of glucose to fats and proteins
 It causes increased uptake of glucose by body cells mainly muscles and liver cells
The above changes provide a corrective mechanism which reduces the excess glucose back to the
normal hence negative feedback.

When the blood glucose level falls below the normal (a condition known as hypoglycemia), the
alpha islets of Langerhans in the pancreas are stimulate to secrete glucagon hormone into the blood
stream and taken to the liver. Glucagon binds to liver cells and stimulates the following processes.

 Increased conversion/hydrolysis of glycogen to glucose (glycogenolysis)

 It reduces the rate of breakdown of glucose to carbon dioxide and water
 It promotes the conversion of non-carbohydrate compounds such as amino acids and
glycerol to glucose. The formation of glucose from other non-carbohydrate sources is
called gluconeogenesis. This occurs in situations of prolonged deficiency. The wasting of
tissue that occurs in extreme starvation is because the body resorts to converting its tissues
(protein) to carbohydrates.
 It inhibits the conversion of glucose into fats and proteins
The above processes increase the blood glucose level back to the normal.

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NB. A part from insulin and glucagon, some other hormones that control blood glucose
concentration include;
(i) Adrenaline hormone (from adrenal medulla) causes hydrolysis of glycogen to glucose in
case of emergence situations like flight and the usage of glucose and thus increases and
decreases its concentrations in blood respectively
(ii) Cortisol (from adrenal cortex) causes formation of glucose from amino acids and glycerol
when glycogen is exhausted hence increasing glucose concentration in blood.
(iii)Growth hormone (from anterior pituitary gland) increases glucose concentration in blood
through fat breakdown
(iv) Thyroxine hormone (from thyroid gland) stimulates metabolic rate e.g increased glucose
breakdown

DIABETES
In some cases, one’s pancreas may fail to secrete insulin or there may be insufficient secretion of
insulin or the cells may be insensitive to insulin resulting in a condition known as diabetes
mellitus.
The symptoms include;
 Hyperglycaemia where the victim is weak, always thirst and dehydrated
 Glucose in urine, a condition known as glucosuria
 Rapid weight loss, fatigue, itching of genitals, skin disorders e.g boils, etc
If not treated, the condition may be fetal.
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Insulin-dependent diabetes (type 1 diabetes) is caused by insufficient secretion of insulin while
insulin independent diabetes (type II diabetes) results from the insensitivity of cells to insulin.
Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus can be controlled by regular injection of the insulin hormone.
The hormone can’t be taken orally because it is a protein and can be digested in the alimentary
canal.

THE ROLE OF THE LIVER

The liver is the largest organ of the body weighing about 1.5kg which is about 4% of the total body
mass. It is the most functionally diversified organ of the body, playing both excretory and
homeostatic functions.

STRUCTURE OF THE LIVER

The liver is composed of numerous units called lobules,
which are cylindrical in shape and approximately 1mm
in diameter. Each lobule consists of vertical plates of
tightly/closely packed cells called hepatocytes (liver
cells), which radiate outwards from the centre to the
periphery of the lobule. The hepatocytes are
structurally similar and are undifferentiated cells.
They have numerous mitochondria, prominent golgi
bodies, peroxisomes, lysosomes, rich in glycogen
granules and fat droplets.

Along each lobule, there are branches of hepatic artery,

hepatic portal vein and bile duct. The hepatic artery and
hepatic portal vein are located between adjacent lobules
and are called interlobular vessels.

In the centre of each lobule, there is a branch of hepatic

vein called the central vein or intralobular vein. The
central vein (branch of hepatic vein) is linked to the
interlobular vessels (hepatic artery and hepatic portal
vein) by sinusoids which are in close contact with
hepatocytes. Attached on the surface of the hepatocytes
within the sinusoids are phagocytic macrophages known
as kuppfer cells. The kuppfer cells destroy old red blood
cells and remove bacteria and any foreign bodies from
blood flowing through the liver. The hepatocytes are
surrounded by small channels called cannaliculi which
connect with bile ducts at the edge of the lobule.

Blood supply to the liver

To perform all its functions, the liver has a double blood supply; the hepatic artery supplies
oxygenated blood for the liver cells to generate the necessary energy through aerobic respiration.
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The hepatic portal vein supplies blood rich in nutrients from the alimentary canal. The liver
processes all substances absorbed from the gut before they can enter the general circulation. The
poisonous substances are made harmless (detoxified) by the liver before joining the general
circulation.

Functions of the liver

1. Regulation of carbohydrates (glucose) / carbohydrate metabolism
The liver maintains a constant glucose concentration by raising the glucose level when it is low
and reducing it when it is high above the normal. This is achieved through the use of hormones
insulin and glucagon secreted by the pancreas. In case of excess glucose in blood, liver cells
reduce it back to the normal through converting glucose to glycogen, increased uptake of glucose
by liver cells, increased breakdown of glucose and inhibition of gluconeogenesis. All this is
achieved under the influence of insulin hormone secreted by beta islets of Langerhans in the
pancreas. In case of low glucose level, the liver raises it back to normal through glycogenolysis
(conversion of glycogen to glucose), decreased breakdown of glucose by liver cells, decreased
uptake of glucose by liver cells, inhibiting conversion of glucose to fats and proteins. This is
achieved under the influence of glucagon hormone secreted by alpha islets of Langerhans in the
pancreas.
2. Lipid/Fat metabolism(regulation of lipids/fats)
The liver converts excess carbohydrates/glucose into fats which are either broken down or
transported to the fat depots. It also regulates the amount of phospholipids and cholesterol by
synthesizing them when they are deficient and breaking them down when they are in excess. The
excess phospholipids and cholesterol are eliminated in bile.
Note;
In case the cholesterol is too much in bile, it may precipitate in the gall bladder or bile duct forming
gall stones which can block the bile duct. The accumulation of cholesterol in blood which results
in atherosclerosis (narrowing of arteries) can cause thrombosis (blood clotting in blood vessels).
If cholesterol is in great excess in bile, it forms gall stones, which can block the bile duct.
3. Protein metabolism (regulation of proteins and amino acids)
The body cannot store excess proteins or amino acids. The excess amino acids are removed from
the body by the liver through deamination. Deamination is the removal of the amino group from
an amino acid to form ammonia and an organic acid or keto acid. The ammonia is then converted
to urea in a cyclic series of enzyme catalyzed reactions called ornithine cycle (urea cycle). Urea is
then shed from the liver cells into the blood stream and transported to the kidney where it is
excreted from the body as urine. The amino acid residue (keto acid) is converted into fats which
are stored or carbohydrates and used by the body immediately to release energy.

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Description of ornithine cycle

The ornithine cycle is a cyclical mechanism of urea formation using ornithine in a series of enzyme
controlled reactions. It occurs in the liver cells.
One molecule of ammonia reacts with carbondioxide and ornithine to form citrulline and water.
More ammonia reacts with citrulline to form arginine and water. The arginine reacts with water to
form urea and ornithine. The ornithine reenters the cycle and the urea is transported to the kidney
for excretion as urine.

The liver also regulates amino acids through transamination. This is the process by which the
amino group is removed from the dietary amino acids under the influence of transaminase
enzyme and transferred to a carbohydrate derivative (keto group) forming new amino acids that
are deficient in the diet.

The liver also regulates proteins in the blood through synthesis of plasma proteins. These include
albumin, globulins and fibrinogen which are all soluble proteins.

4. Detoxification
By converting the highly toxic ammonia into urea which is less toxic, the liver is acting as a
detoxifying organ. The liver cells also detoxify many other poisonous substances that enter the
body for example drugs, oxidation of alcohol (ethanol) into harmless forms (ethanol) by the
enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. The liver converts harmful metabolic products to harmless
compounds, for example conversion of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen.

5. Production of heat
The liver has a very high metabolic rate which generates heat that is transported by blood
throughout the body. This helps in temperature regulation.
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6. Storage of blood
The liver stores up to 1500cm3 in its dense network of blood vessels hence acting as a blood
reservoir in cases of emergency.

7. Storage of vitamins
The liver stores fat soluble vitamins, A, D, E, and K as well as water soluble vitamins such as
vitamin C and vitamin B12.

8. Storage of minerals such as potassium, iron, copper, zinc, cobalt, molybdenum, cobalt,
etc.
9. Synthesis of plasma proteins

These include albumins, globulins, prothrombin and fibrinogen. The albumins bind to calcium
ions and transport them around the body, the globulins make antibodies for defence and act as
transport molecules for hormones, vitamins, lipids and some irons. Prothrombin and fibrinogen
are involved in blood clotting.

10. Production of bile

The liver cells produce bile which is then stored in the gall bladder. Bile consists of water, bile
salts, cholesterol, bile pigments (bilirubin yellow + biliverdin which is green) and inorganic salts.
The bile salts emulsify fats during digestion in the duodenum.

11. Formation of red blood cells

The liver manufactures red blood cells in the foetus. This function is taken up by the bone
marrow in adults. However, in adults, the liver contributes to red blood cell formation by storing
vitamin B12, folic acid and nicotinic acid.

12. Formation of cholesterol

Liver cells can synthesize cholesterol under the influence of thyroxine hormone. Cholesterol is a
lipid-like substance and is an important constituent of cell membranes especially of nerve cells.
The excess cholesterol is excreted by the liver in bile.

When there is excess cholesterol in blood, some of it may be deposited in the walls of arteries
thereby narrowing their lumens, a condition known as atherosclerosis. Narrowing of vessels may
lead to formation of clots within the arteries, a condition called thrombosis. Coronary thrombosis
results in heart attack and cranial thrombosis results into stroke. Excess cholesterol can precipitate
with biliverdin in the gall bladder and bile duct as gall stones, which can block the duct and result
into accumulation of bilirubin in blood condition known as obstructive jaundice, characterized by
yellowing of the eyes, nails and the skin.

13. Destruction of old blood cells and elimination of haemoglobin

When the red blood cells become worn out, they are phagocytically destroyed by the kupffer cells
of the liver. Their haemoglobin is broken down by liver cells into a green pigment biliverdin which
is later oxidized to a brown pigment bilirubin which is eliminated in bile.

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14. Destruction and elimination of sex hormones

After they have served their roles, the hormones are destroyed by the liver and the byproducts,
sent to the kidney for renal excretion. Testosterone and aldosterone are destroyed rapidly, while
others like the gut hormones, like secretin, thyroxin, and antidiuretic hormone etc. are destroyed
slowly. The liver however is also important for production of somatomedin hormone under the
influence of the growth hormones (somatotrophin hormone) secreted by the anterior pituitary
gland.

How is the liver structure related to its function?

 Numerous Kupffer cells ingest worn out red blood cells, bacteria and foreign particles from
the blood flowing through the liver.
 Hepatocytes are tightly packed to facilitate exchange of materials between them and to
strengthen the walls of the sinusoids and bile canaliculi
 Has rich blood supply that provides nutrients to the cells and enables wastes to be carried
away.
 Hepatocytes bear numerous mitochondria for ATP production required in providing energy
that facilitates some of the metabolic reactions.
 Hepatocytes, which are in contact with blood vessels, bear microvilli to increase the surface
area for exchange of substances.
 The liver is large, providing large surface area for metabolic reactions to occur.
 Hepatocytes bear numerous peroxisomes containing catalase and other oxidative enzymes
responsible for detoxification of poisonous substances in the liver.
 Its tissue is elastic, enabling expansion to store large volume of blood
 Hepatocytes are similar in structure (undifferentiated) enabling them to perform various
metabolic functions.
 Hepatocytes have prominent golgi apparatus for efficient secretion of their products.
 The hepatocytes lie in contact with blood vessels and have microvilli to facilitate the rapid
exchange of materials between them and the blood

EXCRETION AND OSMOREGULATION

Excretion: is the removal of waste products of metabolism from the body of an organism. The
various by-products of body metabolism need to be continuously removed because they are toxic
to body cells if allowed to accumulate.
Excretion is different from egestion and secretion.

Egestion: is the removal of undigested food materials from the body of an organism. For example;
elimination of faeces from the gut through the anus (defaecation) and discharge of undigested food
from the food vacuole of amoeba.

Secretion: is the production and release of useful substances from the body cells e.g hormones,
enzymes, mucus digestive juices etc.

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Osmoregulation: is the maintenance of a constant amount of water and salts in the body of an
organism.
Organisms which can maintain a constant osmotic pressure of blood are called osmoregulators
while those whose osmotic pressure of blood fluctuates with that of the surrounding environment
are called osmoconformers

IMPORTANCE OF EXCRETION AND OSMOREGULATION

Importance of excretion Importance of osmoregulation / osmotic control

 Enables removal of unwanted by-  It regulates ionic concentration of body fluids to
products of metabolism to prevent increase efficiency of cell’s metabolic activities e.g.
unbalancing the chemical equilibrium of nervous coordination, protein synthesis, hormone
reactions. production, muscle contraction, enzyme activity etc.
 Removes toxic wastes to prevent  It regulates the water content of body fluids and
poisoning of body cells and tissues. maintains osmotic pressure
 To remove excess materials in the bod y  Maintenance of body PH for proper action of
which when left to accumulate affects the enzymes
body metabolism  Enables removal of excess nutrients that are taken in
that if allowed to accumulate would interfere with
cell activities.
 Gives increased environmental independence

The types of excretory products include;

i) Nitrogenous wastes. These are metabolic waste products that contain nitrogen. They
include ammonia, uric acid, urea, creatinine, trimethylamine oxide, guanine, etc.
Nitrogenous wastes are produced by the breakdown of proteins, nucleic acids and excess
amino acids.
ii) Non- nitrogenous wastes. These are metabolic waste products that do not contain nitrogen
in them. They include carbon dioxide, bile pigments (biliverdin and bilirubin), hydrogen
peroxide, excess water and salts, and oxygen in plants.

EXCRETION IN ANIMALS
Table showing examples of organisms, their excretory organs, different nitrogenous excretory
products and their habitats.

Organism Excretory organ Nitrogenous excretory product Habiat

Mammals Kidneys Urea Terrestrial
Bony fish Kidneys Ammonia Fresh water
Marine bony fish Kidneys Trimethylamine oxide Marine water
Cartilaginous fish Kidneys Urea Marine/sea water
Birds Kidney Uric acid Terrestrial
Insects Malpighian tubules Uric acid Terrestrial
Tadpoles Gills Ammonia Fresh water

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Adult amphibians Kidney Urea on land Terrestrial or

Ammonia in water aquatic
Reptiles Kidney Uric acid Terrestrial
Amoeba and Contractile vacuole Aquatic
paramecium
Annelids Nephridia
Platyhelminthes Flame cells
Crustaceans Antennal glands
Round worms Excretory cells

Significance of excreting different nitrogenous wastes by organisms in different habitats

Ammonia
Ammonia is excreted by fresh water organisms with large amounts of water around them. The
body fluids of these organisms are hypertonic to that of the surrounding, hence there is a
continuous intake of water into their tissues by osmosis. This results into having excess water in
their bodies. To get rid of excess water, fresh water organisms excrete ammonia because it is very
soluble and highly toxic hence its removal from the body requires a large volume of water for
dilution to safe levels. Examples include fresh water bony fish, protozoa, porifera, cnidarians and
amphibians when in water.
Organisms which excrete ammonia as the nitrogenous waste product are said to be ammoniotelic.
NB. Because ammonia is very soluble in water, it requires less energy to be removed from the
body. Therefore, excretion of ammonia also enables organisms to conserve energy.

Urea
Urea is less toxic and less soluble, therefore needs less water for its removal from the body. Urea
is excreted by terrestrial animals like mammals, and adult amphibians. It is also excreted by sea
animals whose body fluids are hypotonic to sea water. Excretion of urea enables organisms to
conserve water in their tissues. It however requires a lot of energy for its excretion because of its
low solubility in water compared to ammonia
Organisms that excrete urea as the nitrogenous waste product are said to be ureotelic.

Uric acid
Uric acid is almost non-toxic and is insoluble in water. Therefore, it requires very little water for
its removal from the body. Uric acid is excreted by insects, birds, reptiles and desert animals as an
efficient mechanism to conserve water in their bodies. However, because of being insoluble in
water, its excretion requires a lot of energy.
Organisms that excrete uric acid as the nitrogenous waste product are said to be uricotelic.

Guanine excretion
Guanine is less soluble than uric acid and requires no water for its elimination, hence is excreted
by terrestrial spiders that live in scarcity of water.

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Trimethylamine oxide excretion

Trimethylamine oxide is excreted by marine bony fish (teleost) in order to conserve water in the
body tissues. Because their body fluids are hypotonic to that of the external medium, there is a
tendency of continuous osmotic loss of water from their bodies. They excrete Trimethylamine
oxide which is soluble and non-toxic hence requires less water for its elimination.

EXCRETION IN MAMMALS
The main excretory organs in mammals are;

 Lungs which remove carbon dioxide and water

 Skin which removes sweat (sweat contains water and salts)
 Kidney which removes urea and excess salts
 Liver which removes cholesterol and bile pigments

RENAL EXCRETION
This is the type of excretion which involves the use of the kidneys to remove the metabolic waste
products from the body. The kidney is the major excretory organ for nitrogenous wastes in all
vertebrates. It plays both excretory, osmoregulatory and homeostatic functions.

Functions of the kidney

i) Removal of metabolic wastes such as urea, ammonia, and excess water from the body
ii) Regulation of water and salt content of blood
iii)Maintenance of constant blood PH (acid-base balance)
iv) Regulation of ions/salts in blood (ion balance)
v) Retention of important nutrients such as glucose and amino acids through reabsorption
from glomerular filtrate into blood
vi) Secretion of erythropoietin hormone which stimulates the production of red blood cells in
the bone marrow.

Structure of the human kidney

Externally, humans have two kidneys in the body. The kidneys are bean shaped at the back of the
abdominal cavity on either side of the vertebral column. They are enclosed in an outer capsule
called renal capsule. The left kidney is slightly higher than the right kidney due to slight
displacement of right kidney by the liver. They are reddish-brown in colour. The kidneys are good
blood supply. The renal artery branches from the aorta and supplies oxygenated blood. The renal
vein carries way deoxygenated blood to the venacava. From each kidney, there is a tube called
ureter which runs to the bladder.

Position of the kidneys in the body

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Internal structure of the kidney

Internally, the kidney consists of two main regions;

The outer region is the renal cortex. The cortex is covered by a fibrous capsule. It consists of the
malpighian body consisting of glomeruli and Bowman’s capsule.

The inner region is the renal medulla. This consists of the pyramids, which are triangular in shape.
Loop of Henle and collecting ducts are all found in the medulla within the pyramids. The collecting
ducts merge at the base of the pyramids to form the renal papilla which open into a funnel shaped
cavity called pelvis. The pelvis is an expanded part of the ureter.
NB. The collecting duct traverses all the layers.

Each kidney contains a million coiled tubes called nephrons and it is in the nephron that urine
formation occurs. The nephrons are the basic structural and functional units of the kidney.

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Internal structure of the kidney (see BS page 681)

THE NEPHRON
The nephron is the basic structural and functional unit of the kidney. There are about a million
nephrons in the human kidney. All the nephrons have a similar structure and carry out the same
functions. The major function of the nephrons is to excrete urea from the body. They also regulate
the salt content of blood.

Each nephron begins in the cortex as a cup shaped structure called Bowman’s capsule which
encloses a dense capillary network called glomerulus (plural glomeruli). The glomerulus and the
Bowman’s capsule together form the malpighian body/renal corpuscle. From the Bowman’s
capsule, there is a narrow and highly coiled tube called the proximal convoluted tubule. This
extends to the medulla and makes a U-shaped loop called loop of Henle. The loop of Henle
consists of the descending and ascending limbs. The ascending limb leads into the distal
convoluted tubule which is highly coiled. This opens into the collecting duct along with several
other nephrons. The collecting duct connects to the pelvis from where urine enters the ureter. Blood
reaches the glomerulus through afferent arteriole and leaves through the efferent arteriole. Both
afferent and efferent vessels are branches of renal artery.

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Drawing of the nephron (check BS page 682)

Types of nephrons
There are two types of nephrons depending on the nature and length of their loops of Henle.

(i) Cortical nephrons

These have short loops of Henle and the biggest part is located in the cortex of the kidney. They
operate under normal conditions and are used for reabsorption of relatively little amount of water
back into the blood. They constitute about 90% of the nephrons in humans.

(ii) Juxtamedulary nephrons

These have long loops of Henle and are deep in the medulla. They have larger glomeruli and thus
have higher glomerular filtration rates. They are vital in concentration of urine by reabsorb large
amounts of water back into the blood stream and work especially during periods of high activity.
In humans, about 12% of the nephrons are juxtamedulary. Desert animals nearly have
jyxtamedullary nephrons only.

THE PROCESS OF URINE FORMATION (urinification)

The process of urine formation occurs in the nephron under three major processes;
(i) Ultrafiltration
(ii) Selective reabsorption
(iii)Tubular secretion

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ULTRAFILTRATION
This is the filtration of blood under high pressure. Ultrafiltration occurs in the glomerulus.

The Bowman's capsule contains a dense capillary network called the glomerulus. Blood flows into
the glomerulus through a wide afferent arteriole and leaves through a narrow efferent arteriole.

The high hydrostatic pressure of blood in the glomerulus forces small molecules such as water,
glucose, amino acids, vitamins, mineral salts and urea to filter from the blood in the glomerulus
into the capsular space forming the glomerular filtrate. Large molecules such as plasma proteins
and blood cells do not pass through the filter because they are too big to pass through the tiny pores
of the basement membrane.
The filtrate passes through the tiny pores in the endothelial lining of the glomerular capillaries,
then the basement membrane, and down through the spaces (filtration slits) between the podocytes
which make up the inner layer of the capsule on the other side of the basement membrane.
Podocytes are specialized cells with numerous foot-like processes that grip on to the basement
membrane. The endothelium and podocytes act as course filters retaining only blood cells. The
basement membrane acts as a fine filter retaining the plasma proteins. This filtrate formed then
moves down to the proximal convoluted tubule where selective reabsorption takes place.
The high hydrostatic pressure required for ultrafiltration in the glomerulus is due to the afferent
vessel which brings blood to the glomerulus having a wider lumen than the efferent arteriole that
takes away blood from the glomerulus.

Detail of podocyte and glomerular endothelium

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SELECTIVE REABSORTION
As the glomerular filtrate flows along the tubules, selective reabsorption occurs. This is the
reabsorption of certain substances from the glomerular filtrate back into the blood stream.
In the proximal convoluted tubule, all the glucose, amino acids, vitamins, 85% of the water, salts
(sodium chloride), hormones, 50% of urea are reabsorbed from the glomerular filtrate into the
surrounding blood capillaries. Much of the remaining salt is reabsorbed in the distal tubule and
much of the water in the distal tubule and collecting ducts.
Glucose, amino acids, sodium ions, H2PO4- and HCO3- are absorbed by active transport but
chloride ions are absorbed by diffusion. The active uptake of Na+ followed by the passive uptake
of Cl- raises the osmotic pressure in the cells enabling entry of water into capillaries by osmosis.
50% of urea is reabsorbed by diffusion. Some small sized proteins which might have filtered
through are removed by pinocytosis. These proteins are digested into the hydrolytic enzymes
secreted by lysosomes. As a result of all this activity, the tubular filtrate is isotonic with blood in
the surrounding capillaries.
The proximal convoluted tubule is long and folded to increase the surface area for reabsorption of
materials.
Some metabolic wastes like ammonia, creatine are actively secreted from the epithelial cells into
the lumen of the tubule.

When the glomerular filtrate moves from the proximal convoluted tubule down the descending
loop of Henle, water is osmotically reabsorbed into vasa recta because the walls of descending
limb are highly permeable to water and impermeable to salts. This raises the osmotic concentration
of glomerular filtrate down the descending limb.
As the glomerular filtrate moves up the ascending loop of Henle, salts move out into the tissue
fluids of medulla by diffusion via the walls of thin ascending loop of Henle and by active transport

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via the walls of the thick ascending limb. The ascending limb is relatively permeable to salts but
impermeable to outward movement of water. The potassium and chloride ions are co-transported
from the lumen to the tissue fluid of medulla. This reduces the osmotic pressure of glomerular
filtrate up the ascending limb.

This eventually creates as high salt concentration in the tissue fluid of medulla which raise its
osmosis pressure for maximum osmotic water reabsorption from the collecting duct and the
descending loop of Henle into the blood stream.

From the ascending loop of Henle , the filtrate flows to the distal convoluted tubule where all the
glucose , amino acids , some salts are selectively reabsorbed by diffusion into the epithelial cells ,
then into the basal channels ,and intercellular spaces by active transport. The material enter into
the blood capillaries by diffusion. Water is also osmotically reabsorbed into the blood capillaries
due to an osmotic gradient, brought about by reabsorption of solutes.

Tubular secretion
Also along the distal convoluted tubule, unwanted materials such as creatine, some urea, ammonia,
uric acid, H+, and K+ are actively secreted from blood into lumen of the tubule. From the distal
tubule, the filtrate enters the collecting duct and becomes urine.
Down the duct, more water is reabsorbed. Water reabsorption in the distal convoluted tubule and
collecting duct is under the influence of ADH under osmotic regulation.

The solute concentration of urine increases, due to continuous osmotic water reabsorption into the
blood stream resulting in the production of hypertonic urine. Urine flows from the collecting duct
to the ureter via the pelvis. The ureter transports it to the urinary bladder for temporary storage.
During urination the urinary sphincter muscle relaxes while the walls of the bladder contract. This
forces urine out of the bladder out of the body through the urethra.

Structure of the proximal convoluted tubule cells

The proximal convoluted tubule is lined with a single layer of epithelial cells. The cuboid epithelial
cells of the tubule have a brush border of numerous microvilli at their inner surface.
At the base of the epithelial cells on the capillary side, the surface plasma membranes are infolded
to form numerous basal channels. Between the infoldings, there are numerous mitochondria which
supply the energy for active absorption of glucose and salts.

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Adaptations of the proximal convoluted tubule cells for reabsorption of materials

 They have numerous mitochondria to generate enough energy for active reabsorption of
materials into the blood stream
 Have numerous microvilli at the free end to increase the surface area for reabsorption of
substances like glucose, amino acids, vitamins, NaCl, water into the blood stream
 Have highly infolded plasma membrane to increase surface area for reabsorption of
materials
 Contain numerous pinocytic vesicles for digestion of small protein molecules from the
renal filtrate.
 The tubule epithelial cells are thin, with one cell layer to reduce distance for diffusion of
materials during reabsorption of substances.
 The epithelial cells are in close contact with blood capillaries to shorter the diffusion
distance for fast diffusion and reabsorption of materials into the blood stream.

LOOP OF HENLE AS A COUNTER-CURRENT MULTIPLIER

The loop of Henle acts as a counter current multiplier system because the flow of glomerular
filtrate in the descending and ascending limbs is in an opposite direction. This raises the
concentration of the filtrate in the descending limb above that of the ascending limb and this effect
is multiplied by the length of the limb. This concentration gradient is brought about by the
continuous removal of salts from the ascending limb into the tissue fluid of medulla and continuous
osmotic flow of water out of the descending limb.

The descending limb of loop of Henle is freely permeable to water but relatively impermeable to
salt and urea while the ascending limb of the loop of Henle is thicker and relatively impermeable
to water but permeable to salts (Na+ and Cl-) move out of the thin part of ascending limb by
diffusion and out of the thick part by active transport into the medulla and then diffuse into the
descending limb. The removal of salts from the filtrate in the ascending limb into the medulla
raises the solute concentration of the medulla and lowers the concentration up the ascending limb.
Water moves out of the descending limb by osmosis causing the osmotic concentration of filtrate
to increase down the descending limb and becomes highest at the base of the loop (hair pin).
At any given point, the concentration is higher in the descending than the ascending limb. This is
called unit effect and is multiplied by the length of the loop of Henle.
The accumulation of salts in the medulla creates a high solute concentration gradient which results
in the continuous osmotic reabsorption of water from the filtrate in the descending limb into blood
stream and carried away by the vasa recta. It also causes osmotic reabsorption of water from urine
in the collecting ducts back into the blood stream. This results into hypertonic urine.

Definition: unit effect is the effect of raising osmotic concentration of the descending limb
above that of the ascending limb at any level of the loop of Henle.

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NB. The loop of Henle is the counter current multiplier and the vasa recta is the counter current
exchanger.
Vasa recta are fine looped blood vessels which run parallel with and surround the loop of Henle.
They carry blood from the glomerulus to the renal vein. The vasa recta supplies nutrients and
oxygen to the loop of Henle. Blood flow in the vasa recta is sluggish.
The sluggish flow of blood and the looped arrangement ensures that by simple countercurrent
exchange, the incoming blood gets saltier as it passes down into the medulla and less salty as it
leaves for the cortex. This allows the medulla to retain its high salt concentration rather than the
salt being carried away in blood to other parts of the body.
Due to the process of selective reabsorption, the final composition of urine is very different from
that of the glomerular filtrate.
The table below shows the comparison of the concentration of substances in the glomerular filtrate
and urine of a person.

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Substance Blood plasma entering Glomerular filtrate (%) Urine (%)

glomerulus (%)
Water 90 90 95
Proteins 9 0 0
Glucose 0.1 0.1 0
Urea 0.03 0.03 2.0
Sodium ions 0.30 0.30 0.35
Chloride ions 0.37 0.37 0.60

From the table, it is seen that the composition of urine is different from that of glomerular filtrate.
No glucose and no proteins in urine. The absence of proteins is because proteins are too large to
pass through the tiny pores of the glomerular capillaries and basement membrane.
The absence of glucose in urine is because glucose is completely reabsorbed. The difference in the
amount of water in the glomerular filtrate and urine is because water has been removed from the
glomerular filtrate making it more concentrated depending on the concentration of water in blood.
Depending on the concentration of water in blood, a lot of it is lost in urine.

RENAL-PLASMA RATIO
The ratio obtained after dividing the concentration of substances in renal fluid by the concentration
of same substances in blood plasma. It is the most convenient way of expressing the composition
of the renal fluid. A renal-plasma ratio of 1.0 means that the concentration of the substance is the
same in the renal fluid and plasma. A ratio greater than 1.0 means a higher concentration in the
renal fluid than in the plasma and a ratio less than 1.0 means a higher concentration in the plasma
than in the renal fluid.
Study the figure below showing the changes in renal-plasma ratio along the nephron tubules

Ref: functional approach page 215

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The renal-plasma ratio is 1.0 for all the components in the Bowman’s capsule showing that the
concentration is the same in the renal fluid and blood plasma. This is because reabsorption has not
yet occurred. The renal-plasma ratio increases (is greater than 1.0) in both the proximal and distal
tubules because large amounts of water are reabsorbed into blood stream. Urea is also actively
secreted into the tubules from the blood stream.
Renal-plasma ratio for glucose in the non-phlorizinised proximal tubule of kidney is less than 1.0
and decreases rapidly to zero because all the glucose is actively reabsorbed in the proximal
convoluted tubule.
If the tubules are treated with a metabolic poison such as cyanide or dinitrophenol, the reabsorption
of glucose stops or slows down.
The renal-plasma ratio of chloride in the distal tubule is less than 1.0 and decreases rapidly to a
lower level because chloride ions are reabsorbed in the distal tubule. Renal-plasma ratio of for
glucose in the phlorizinised kidney is more than 1.0 because phlorizin inhibits reabsorption of
glucose

Why urine production almost stops after serious bleeding:

The amount of urine produced is proportional to the amount of blood flowing through the kidneys.
The total blood volume in the body reduces if serious bleeding occurs, resulting into diversion of
blood from other tissues (including the kidneys) to the brain to maintain life. Therefore the volume
of blood flowing through the kidneys reduces greatly to the extent that less ultrafiltration and hence
formation urine occurs.

THE KIDNEY AS AN OSMOREGULATORY ORGAN

The kidney functions as a homeostatic organ by regulating the amount of water and salts in blood.

Regulation of water and solute content of blood (osmotic regulation)

The osmotic pressure of the body fluid is partly maintained constant by the kidney.
Osmoregulation is controlled by the hypothalamus in the brain. It has osmoreceptors which are
sensitive to changes in the concentration of water in blood.
A rise in osmotic pressure of blood may be caused by;
 Little water intake/taking long without drinking water
 Too much sweating
 Taking large amounts of salts.
A rise in blood osmotic pressure (little water in blood) above the norm is detected by
osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus. These fire nerve impulses to the posterior pituitary gland
stimulating it to releases ADH/vasopressin into blood stream. ADH is then transported to the walls
of the nephron tubules where it increases the permeability of the distal convoluted tubule and
collecting duct to water. More water is then reabsorbed back into blood stream thus lowering the
concentration of blood back to norm. This results into passing out little and concentrated urine.
ADH also increases the permeability of the collecting duct to urea which diffuses from urine into
the medulla tissue fluid increasing the osmotic concentration and causing more water to be
reabsorbed from the descending limb.
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When the osmotic pressure of blood decreases below the norm, the low osmotic pressure is
detected by osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus. These send inhibitory impulses to the posterior
pituitary gland inhibiting the production of ADH. Less or no ADH is released by the posterior
pituitary gland and the walls of the distal convoluted tubule and collecting duct are rendered less
permeable or impermeable to water and urea. As a result, little amount of water is reabsorbed from
the distal convoluted tubules and collecting duct back into blood stream; hence large quantities of
dilute urine are produced. The osmotic pressure of blood rises back to the normal.
A decrease in osmotic pressure of blood may be due to;
 Intake of large volumes of water
 Little sweating
 Low salt intake
Failure to produce sufficient levels of ADH will lead to production of large quantities of
dilute/hypotonic urine (diuresis) whatever the diet. This condition is known as diabetes inspidus.
The person urinates frequently and can suffer from acute tissue dehydration.

Regulation of ions
The concentration of any particular type of ion in blood and tissue fluid is regulated in three ways:
(i) Hormones control the uptake of the ions into bloodstream from the gut.

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(ii) Hormones control the removal of ions from the blood by kidneys and elimination in
the urine.
(iii) Hormones control the release of ions into the bloodstream from reservoirs like organs
/ tissues e.g. bones in which they are at high concentrations.

Regulation of sodium ions and potassium ions

Aldosterone hormone is responsible for maintaining a constant level of sodium ions and potassium
ions in blood plasma. It also has a secondary effect on water reabsorption.
A decrease in blood sodium levels leads to decreased blood volume and reduced blood pressure
because less water is drawn into blood by osmosis.
Low levels of sodium ions in blood are detected by the hypothalamus, which stimulates the anterior
pituitary gland to secrete the hormone adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which stimulates the
juxtaglomerular complex (situated between the distal convoluted tubule and afferent arteriole) to
release the enzyme Renin.
Renin catalyses the conversion of angiotensinogen, a plasma protein into a hormone angiotensin
which stimulates the adrenal cortex to secrete the hormone Aldosterone
Aldosterone has the following effects:
 Stimulates the active uptake of sodium ions from the glomerular filtrate into the plasma of
capillaries surrounding the nephron. This induces osmotic uptake of water into blood thus
increasing both the blood volume and sodium level back to the norm.
 Stimulates sodium absorption in the gut and decreases loss of sodium in sweat so as to raise
sodium levels to cause an osmotic inflow of water thus increasing the blood volume and
pressure
 Stimulates the brain to increase the sensation of thirst.
Aldosterone also inhibits the reabsorption of potassium ions from the kidney tubules. Aldosterone
has the effect of increasing the concentration of sodium ions and decreasing the concentration of
potassium ions in blood.

Increased sodium level in blood causes increased blood volume and pressure, less production of
renin and angiotensin resulting in less secretion of aldosterone by the adrenal cortex hence less
uptake of sodium ions from the glomerular filtrate occurs, restoring sodium ion level to the norm.

Control of calcium and phosphates ions

The control of these ions is under the influence of parat hormone secreted by parathyroid gland
which is located on either side of the thyroid gland.
Low calcium level in blood stimulates the parathyroid glands to secrete the parat hormone
(parathyroid) hormone which increases the calcium level and decreases the hydrogen phosphate
(HPO42-) level
Parat hormone has the following effects
 Activation of vitamin D which raises the uptake of calcium ions by the gut
 It promotes reabsorption of calcium ions in the kidney tubules
 It promotes the release of calcium ions and phosphate ions from bones into blood stream
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 Promotes excretion of hydrogen phosphate (HPO42-) in urine by kidneys

 It inhibits reabsorption of phosphate ions in the kidney tubules
High blood calcium level stimulates the thyroid gland to secrete calcitonin hormone, which
increases bone buildup by osteoblasts so as to reduce calcium level.

High level of calcium Low level of calcium

ions in blood ions in blood

Thyroid gland Parathyroid gland

Parat hormone
Calcitonin hormone
v

 Reduced Ca2+ by the kidney

 Greater Ca2+ loss by the kidney  Greater absorption of Ca2+
 Reduced Ca2+absorption  Stored Ca2+released by bones
 Excess Ca2+ stored in bones and teeth and teeth

Negative feedback Negative feedback

Reduced calcium in Normal calcium Increased calcium

blood ions in blood ions in blood

NOTE:
Another factor that controls calcium and phosphate ions is vitamin D (calciferol) synthesized by
the skin. Vitamin D promotes the absorption of calcium and phosphate ions by the gut and their
uptake by bones, but increases the elimination of phosphate ions by the kidney. Therefore, it has
the effect of lowering the concentration of phosphate ions relative to calcium.

Control of blood PH (Acid-Base balance)

The body produces more acids than bases, hence blood PH IS usually lower than the normal PH
of about 7.4 due to high concentration of H+ ions that result from metabolic processes.
However, the blood and tissue fluid must be kept at a normal PH of about 7.4 because any small
deviations can be fetal.
The kidney, lungs and blood help maintain the PH of body fluids constant by controlling the
relative concentration of hydrogen ions in the following ways;
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(i) The lungs expel carbon dioxide which would accumulate and combine with water to form
carbonic acid and lower the PH
(ii) The buffering mechanism involving plasma proteins suppresses the hydrogen ions
(iii)The kidney gets rid of hydrogen ions and usually retains bicarbonate ions.

In the cells of proximal convoluted tubules, the carbon dioxide reacts with water to form carbonic
acid, a reaction catalyzed by carbonic anhydrase enzyme. The carbonic acid formed then
dissociates into hydrogen ions (H+) and bicarbonate ions (HCO3-).

The hydrogen ions are actively pumped into the lumen of the tubule where it reacts a buffer called
disodium hydrogen phosphate (Na2HPO4) to form sodium dihydrogen phosphate (NaH2PO4)
and sodium ion. The sodium dihydrogen phosphate is then excreted in urine. The sodium ion is
actively pumped into the tubule cells in exchange for hydrogen ions. The sodium ions react with
bicarbonate ions to form sodium bicarbonate which is reabsorbed into blood stream by active
transport.

The Blood PH rises (becomes less acidic) due to absorption of HCO3- that result from dissociation
of carbonic acid.
When the blood PH is extremely low (too acidic), the excess hydrogen ions combine with ammonia
in the distal convoluted tubule to form ammonium ions which are excreted in urine. The ammonia
is produced from the deamination of the amino acid glutamine by the distal convoluted tubules.

When the blood PH is above the norm of 7.4 (more alkaline) the hydrogen ion become reabsorbed
into the blood stream from the epithelial cells while the bicarbonate irons become actively secreted
into the lumen of the tubules and get excreted.

ADAPTATIONS OF THE MAMMALIAN NEPHRONE TO ITS FUNCTIONS.

 Afferent arteriole entering the Bowman’s capsule has wider lumen than that of efferent
arteriole leaving it, resulting into high hydrostatic pressure that causes ultra-filtration to
occur.
 The glomerular capillaries are highly coiled to increase the surface area for ultrafiltration
to occur.

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 The structural arrangement of the three layers of glomerular capillary enables the
diaphragms of slit pores formed by foot-like projections of podocytes to offer selective
filtration while blood cells and the negatively charged large plasma protein are retained by
endothelium and basement membrane respectively.
 The Bowman’s capsule is funnel-shaped to direct the renal filtrate into the proximal
convoluted tubule.
The proximal convoluted tubule cells:
 Bear numerous microvilli at the free end to increase the surface area for reabsorption of
substances like glucose, amino acids, vitamins, NaCl, water.
 Contain numerous mitochondria to form ATP that provide energy required in active
transport of glucose, amino acids, Na+, H2PO4- and HCO3- into the blood capillaries
 The cell surface membrane is indented to form a large area of intercellular spaces bathed
with fluid.
 Contain numerous pinocytic vesicles, which enable the digestion of small protein
molecules from the renal filtrate.
 Form a thin thickness of one cell layer to ease reabsorption of substances.
The loop of Henle is U-shaped with parallel, opposite flows of tubular fluid in its limbs to provide
a multiplier effect that create a concentration gradient, which enables increased water
reabsorption.
The capillaries of vasa recta form loops that accompany the loops of Henle resulting into
countercurrent exchange of solute and water between ascending and descending blood.
The capillaries of vasa recta are in close proximity with tubules to increase the reabsorption of
useful substances from the filtrate.
The distal convoluted tubule is long and coiled to increase the surface area for reabsorption of
water and mineral salts.
The distal and proximal convoluted tubules are coiled to slow down the movement of renal filtrate
to allow more time for efficient reabsorption of substances like water, mineral salts.

EXCRETION AND OSMOREGULATION IN OTHER ORGANISMS

Marine protozoa
Marine protozoans have body fluids which are isotonic to the surrounding saline water.
Therefore, there is no need for these organisms to osmoregulate. Majority of these organisms
lack means of osmoregulation.

Fresh water protozoans e.g amoeba and paramecium

Osmoregulation in fresh water protozoans is carried out by the contractile vacuole. Fresh water
protozoa have body fluids which are hypertonic to that of the surrounding. As a result, water
enters their cells by osmosis across their semi-permeable membrane. The excess osmotic entry of
water can cause them to burst and die. They have a contractile vacuole which regulates the
amount of water.

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The small vesicles in the cytoplasm get filled up with fluid from the cytoplasm and actively pumps
the salt out back to the cytoplasm using energy provided by ATP from mitochondria. The vesicles
filled with water then fuse with and empty the water into the contractile vacuole. The filling of
contractile vacuole with water requires energy which is provided by the numerous mitochondria
that surround the vacuole. As the contractile vacuole fills with water, it expands gradually until a
maximum size is reached. The contractile vacuole then moves towards the surface and binds to the
cell membrane. It then releases the accumulated water to the outside of the amoeba cell.

Contractile vacuole Contractile vacuole moves Immediately after

Water enters amoeba cell filling with water and towards the surface, binds to the discharging
by osmosis expanding cell membrane and discharges
its contents to the exterior

Detailed contractile vacuole of amoeba

Sample question
Two species of amoeba were transferred from their natural habitats to different Dilutions of sea
water, and each individual was given time to adjust to its new environment. The table below shows
data about the rate of vacuolar contractions with varying solute concentrations. [Susan & Glenn
Toole (1991), 2nd edition, pg.527]

Sea water concentration in % Number of vacuolar contractions per hour

(Normal sea water= 100%)  Species A  Species B
5  82  20
10  74  63
15  65  64
20  58  56
30  34  31
40  14  13
50  0  6
60  0  0
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a) Plot the results of the experiment as a graph

(b) (i) What is the function of the contractile vacuole?
(ii) Explain how the contractile vacuole carries out the function in (b) (i).
(c) Explain by reference to the data, the difference in vacuolar contraction in the two species of
Amoeba when placed in the higher concentrations of seawater.
(d) What information may be deduced about the natural habitats of the two species from the rates
of vacuolar contractions?

EXCRETION AND OSMOREGULATION IN FLAT WORMS (PLATYHELMINTHES)

Most of the metabolic waste products in flat worms flow into the gut and get eliminated through
the mouth.

However, some pass into an organ called protonephridium which is mainly used for
osmoregulation. Each protonephridium is composed of many tubules which end into hollow and
enlarged cells called flame cells at the centre. These have bundles of cilia which create a current
that draws in the fluid (water and excretory substances) from the body. Water and metabolites are
then reabsorbed, the substances to be excreted are then propelled into the nephridia tubes/ducts
and then expelled through excretory pores/ exit pores located between the epidermal cells.

Because their body fluids are hypertonic to that of the external environment, the flat worm tend to
take excess water osmotically which can put up a risk of tissue bursting. They excrete ammonia to
get rid of excess water due to high solubility and toxicity of ammonia. Ammonia flows by ultra-
filtration into the flame cells and eventually into the nephridial duct, from the coelomic cavity.
Excess water moves osmotically from the coelomic fluid into the nephridrial duct and eventually
lost out of the body.

EXCRETION AND OSMOREGULATION IN ANNELIDS e.g earth worm

Annelids use the nephridia or metanephridia for both excretion and osmoregulation. Nephridia are
long tubes which connect the coelom to the exterior. Each segment of a worm has a pair of
metanephridia, which are immersed in coelomic fluid and enveloped by a capillary network. A
ciliated funnel called nephrostone surrounds the internal opening. This is connected to the bladder
by a long segmented muscular tubule. The bladder opens to the outside by a nephridiopore. The
coelomic fluid is drawn into the nephrostrome by beating of the cilia

As urine moves along the tubule, the transport epithelium bordering the lumen reabsorbs most
solutes and returns them to the blood in the capillaries. Nitrogenous wastes remain in the tubule
and are excreted to the outside.
At the narrow tube metabolic wastes e.g. urea are actively pumped into the tube from the coelomic
cavity. Some salts are actively reabsorbed from the middle and wide tubes, back to the coelom.
Some water is also osmotically absorbed from the coelomic cavity into the tube. Urea and ammonia
are pumped actively from the coelomic cavity into the wide tube. The waste materials flow to the
bladder, where they are temporally stored before they are lost out the body via the nephridiopore.
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Illustration

Excretion and osmoregulation in insects

Insects and other terrestrial arthropods have organs called Malpighian tubules that remove
nitrogenous wastes and also function in osmoregulation. They excrete uric acid which is non toxic
and insoluble in water thus its elimination from the body does not lead to the water loss.

Malpighian tubes open into the gut at one end while the blind free end floats in blood/heamolymph.
Insect tissues produce nitrogenous wastes in form of potassium urate and sodium urate and these
are actively taken up by malpighian tubule cells.
In the cells of the tubule, potassium urate reacts with water and carbon dioxide to form potassium
bicarbonate, uric acid and water.
KHU + H20 +CO2 KHCO3 + H2U +H2O
Potassium hydrogen carbonate is absorbed back into blood while uric acid is deposited in the
tubule lumen.
As the uric acid moves from distal to proximal end of the malpighian tubule (towards the gut),
water is vigorously reabsorbed back into blood leaving solid crystals of uric acid in the lumen of
the tubule. At the rectum, more water reabsorbed by folded walls of rectal glands back into the
blood stream and dry crystals of uric acid are deposited in the rectum and can be passed out.

The excretion of uric acid is an adaptation for insects to conserve water in their bodies and this has
contributed to their tremendous success on land.

The rectal end of their gut enables water uptake from the air and insects conserve water more
efficiently than any other group of organisms. That is why they can easily service in hot and dry
places

Diagram showing malphigian tubule (FA, figure 14.14 A and B page 226)

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Diagram showing formation of uric acid

EXCRETION AND OSMOREGULATION IN MARINE INVERTEBRTAES

Animals first evolved in the sea, and most marine invertebrates are osmoconfromers. These are
animals whose osmotic concentration of body fluids fluctuates according to that of the
environment and do not need to omoregulate.

Many invertebrates such as sea anemones, spider crabs and star fish live entirely in sea water and
their body fluids are isotonic to sea water. Since their internal osmotic pressure (OPi) is equal to
external osmotic pressure (OPe), these organisms do not need to osmoregulate and most of them
lack organs for osmoregulation. Any change in external osmotic pressure results in similar changes
in internal osmotic pressure. This presents no problem to these organisms since the sea is an open
environment and not subjected to sudden changes in salinity. However, their habitats are limited
to sea water.

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Excretion and osmoregulation in crustaceans (crabs and cray fish)

Crabs and cray fish have a pair of antennal glands located at the base of the antenna. Each
antennal gland consists of an end sac called coelom which is blindly ended. The end sac connects
to a spongy-like cavity called labyrinth. This connects to the bladder which has a small pore that
opens to the exterior.

In crabs e.g shore crab carcinus, antennal glands are used for excretion, but not osmoregulation.
Water, salts and nitrogenous wastes filter into the end sac and labyrinth from the surrounding blood
and tissues. The fluid then moves down to the bladder and passed out through an external pore.
The antennal glands cannot retain salts but eliminate excess water and salts equally leading to
production of isotonic urine. Because the antennal glands cannot retain salts, crabs use gills to
actively absorb salts from the surrounding environment which are then secreted into blood against
concentration gradient. This keeps the body fluids slightly hypertonic to the external medium.

The shore crab carcinus can osmoregulate in an environment which is not greatly diluted (not so
dilute and not so concentrated) because its gills are less efficient in actively pumping of salts into
the body. They can therefore swim upriver to a limited extent.

In environments of relatively low salinity carcinus osmoregulate by actively pumping salts into
the body using its gills to keeping the osmotic pressure of its fluids higher than of the external
medium

In high salinity environments, carcinus behaves as an osmo-conformer, by adjusting the osmotic

pressure of its body fluid to equal to that of the external medium, by accumulating high salt concn
in its body.

In the mitten crab, Eriocheir, gills are highly efficient in active pumping of salts into the body and
can osmoregulate even in regions of greater dilutions. It can therefore, colonize fresh water

The spider crab, maia, cannot osmoregulate at all so its osmotic pressure fluctuates with that of the
external medium. For that reason, maia cannot swim upriver where the osmotic pressure of the
external medium is very low. It can only occupy the marine water.

In cray fish, the antennal glands are used for both excretion and osmoregulation because they can
retain salt and eliminate excess water. This leads to the production of hypotonic urine and an
internal osmotic pressure higher than external osmotic pressure. The salts are reabsorbed in the
coiled tubule connecting labyrinth and bladder. The tubule is long and coiled increasing the surface
area for reabsorption of salts. Cray fish are fresh water inhabitants.

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Migrating from sea to fresh water

To be able to migrate from sea to fresh water, animals should be able to osmoregulate and maintain
an osmotic pressure independent of changes in external osmotic pressure due to changes in salinity
of the surrounding water.

The graph below shows changes in internal osmotic pressure of blood (opi) with external
osmotic pressure in the surrounding medium (ope) in marine invertebrates.

The results were obtained by immersing three different species of crab in diluted sea water.

For the spider crab (Maia); the osmotic pressure of blood decreases rapidly with decrease in
osmotic pressure of the water. This is because the fully marine spider maia cannot osmoregulate
at all. Its habitat is marine water.

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For the shore crab carcinus; the internal osmotic pressure is high in sea water, then decreases
rapidly with decrease in OPe, and then gradually decreases, then decreases rapidly to a low level
in fresh water with a low OPe. This is because carcinus has some degree of osmoregulation at the
boundary between fresh and marine water. The powers of osmoregulation break if the internal
environment become too dilute or too concentrated. Therefore, it cannot migrate too far up rivers
and its likely habitat is estuarine / brackish water (neither fresh water nor sea water)
For the Eriocheir; the OPi slightly decreases with decrease in OPe and remains relatively constsnt
in fresh water. This is because it has the ability to osmoregulate in fresh water, but has low
osmoregulation ability in sea water. So it can move far upstream in fresh water. It can live in fresh
water and estuarine waters.

EXCRETION AND OSMOREGULATION IN FISH

a) In fresh water bony fish (teleosts) e.g tilapia
The excretory and osmoregulatory organs are the gills and kidneys. The gills excrete carbon
dioxide and the kidneys get rid of ammonia and other wastes from the body. The kidneys have
large glomeruli and the gills have numerous chloride secreting cells used in osmoregulation.
In fresh water bony fish, the internal body fluids are hypertonic to the surrounding water (Opi >
Ope), hence there is high influx of water into the body by osmosis which makes them to risk the
bursting of their tissues. The influx of water occurs across the gills, lining of mouth and pharynx
which are permeable. They get rid of excess water by excreting highly soluble and toxic ammonia
whose elimination from the body leads to a large water loss. Their nephrons have numerous and
large glomeruli, which offer a large surface area for high rate of glomerular filtration, thereby
producing large volumes of highly diluted urine/losing more water in urine. They also don’t drink
water to solve the problem of high osmotic water intake.
Fresh water bony fish also face a problem of high efflux of solutes (ions and ammonia) into water
by diffusion.

To overcome this, they extensively reabsorb a large amount of salts across the nephron tubules
from the glomerular filtrate back into the blood capillaries by both diffusion and active transport.
In addition, there is active uptake of salts from water by chloride secretory cells in the gills.

b) Excretion and osmoregulation in marine teleots (bony fish)

The excretory and osmoregulatory organs in marine teleosts are the gills and kidneys. Marine fish
excrete carbon dioxide using the gills and trimethylamine oxide using the kidney.

Because they have hypotonic body fluids to the external medium (Opi < Ope), they tend to lose
excess water osmotically to the external medium, via the permeable gills, although their body is
rendered impermeable to water by the scales and mucus. The Excessive water loss from the body
can result into tissue dehydration, a situation described as physiological drought.

These fish minimize water loss by;

 Excreting the soluble though non toxic trimethylamine oxide, whose elimination from the
body needs losss of little amount of water.
 They also drink a large volume of salty sea water to compensate water loss.
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 They have a kidney with low filtration rate due to few small sized glomeruli. This
minimizes water loss in urine.
 They get rid of excess salts by using the chloride secretory cells of their gills, which
actively pump the excess salts out of the body against a concentration gradient from the
blood to the sea water.

Excretion and osmoregulation in cartilaginous fish (Marine elasmobranchs)

e.g sharks, dog fish, ray fish
The elasmobranchs reabsorb urea from the nephron tubules and their gills are impermeable to urea.
This means that they retain much urea in the body. This raises their osmotic pressure slightly higher
than that of the surrounding environment or isotonic to that of the environment. Only a small
amount of water can enter their bodies by osmosis and this can be easily expelled by the kidney.
Hence, these fishes do not need to continuously drink seawater for osmotic balance, and their
kidneys and gills do not have to remove large amounts of ions from their bodies. The enzymes and
tissues of the cartilaginous fish can tolerate the high urea concentrations. The highly toxic urea is
detoxified by Trimethylamine Oxide
NB. Blood urea concentration in cartilaginous fish is 100 times higher than that of mammals.

Excretion and osmoregulation in migratory fish e.g. the salmon, eel

These are fish that keep moving from sea water to fresh water during lifetime. They are able to
osmoregulate even with great changes in external osmotic pressure.
This is achieved through either changes in kidney filtration rates or reversing the direction in
which the chloride secreting cells transfer salts depending on if they are in sea or fresh water.

When the fish moves from fresh to marine water the body loses excess water osmotically. It
swallows large volume of salty water to compensate water loss. They get rid of excess salts by
using the chloride secretory cells of their gills, which actively pump the excess salts out of the
body.

When the fish migrates from sea to fresh water it takes up excess water by osmosis. There is
increase in glomerular filtration rate hence large volumes of highly diluted urine is produced
leading to loss of water in urine There is active uptake of salts from water by chloride secretory
cells in the gills.

OSMOREGULATION IN TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATES

Terrestrial animals face a danger of losing excess water by evaporation through the permeable
surface. To overcome this problem, they have developed a number of adaptations.
Physiological adaptations
1. Reducing the glomerular filtration rate. This is achieved by having few and smaller
glomeruli, for example the desert frog, chiroleptes
2. Production of nontoxic nitrogenous wastes which require little or no water for removal
from the body. For example, birds and reptiles excrete uric acid which is nontoxic and
insoluble in water, hence requires no water for removal from the body. Mammals and
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amphibians excrete urea which is less toxic and requires little water for removal from the
body.
3. Reabsorbing much water from the glomerular filtrate in the nephron. This is achieved
by having long loops of Henle to increase surface area for water reabsorption e.g in desert
animals such as kangaroo rat.
4. By using metabolic water. This is obtained from tissue respiration. Metabolism of fats
yields more metabolic water than carbohydrates. Thus desert animals tend to metabolise
fat rather than carbohydrates, for example kangaroo rat and camels.
5. Having tissue tolerance to water loss and dehydration. For example, camel can survive
a water loss that reduces its body mass by as much as 30 percent.
6. Ability to sweat at abnormally higher temperature e.g. a camel begins sweating at 410C
from its normal body temperature of 340C
7. Ability to reduce the need for nitrogenous excretion e.g. a camel secretes urea into the
lumen of alimentary canal where bacteria convert it to protein, which is then utilized as
food.
Structural adaptations
8. By having water proof integuments, for example keratinized scales of reptiles and
cornified epithelium of mammals. Insects have a waxy cuticle
9. In some animals, sweat glands are only present in specific regions such as foot pads to
reduce water loss by evaporation through sweating e.g dogs, cats, camels
Behavioral adaptations
10. Modifying bahaviour for example staying in burrows on hot days. This enables the animal
to prevent water loss by evaporation e.g kangaroo rat and earth worms.
11. Some animals migrate to other areas in times of extreme temperatures when water loss is
very high. Migrating to cooler environments minimizes water loss
12. Some animals drink much water on hot days when they are thirsty. This compensates the
water lost.
13. Going into Aestivation, a state of dormancy in dry conditions where metabolic rate is
reduced to a minimum level. This enables the organism to conserve water. For example,
lungfish burrows down and encases in a cocoon of hard mud lined with mucus

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EXCRETION IN PLANTS
The excretory products in plants include Carbon dioxide and water from respirairation and
oxygen from photosynthesis. Plants also excrete anthocyanins stored in petals, leaves, fruits,
barks, Tannins deposited in dead tree tissues like wood and barks, salts and Alkaloids like quinine,
cannabis, cocaine, caffeine, morphine etc

Plants do not require complex and specialized excretory organs and systems because of the
following reasons
(i) Plants can reuse some of their metabolic waste products, for example carbon dioxide which
is a waste product of respiration is reused in photosynthesis, oxygen which is a waste product
of photosynthesis is used in respiration.
(ii) Most of their waste products are less toxic or non-toxic and can be stored in some plant tissues
which get removed periodically e.g leaves and bark
(iii) They have low metabolism/are less active hence less wastes produced
(iv) Their waste products accumulate in leaves which then fall off
(v) Some of their waste products can be removed by diffusion through leaves and lenticels in the
stem e.g carbon dioxide
(vi) Metabolism in plants is based mainly on carbohydrates and their waste products are less toxic
than the waste products of metabolism of proteins
(vii) Some plants store other wastes such as resins in organs that later fall off e.g. leaves
(viii) Excess water and dissolved gases are removed by transpiration through the stomata
(ix) In some plants, guttation occurs. The excess water with dissolved salts is lost as droplets
through hydathodes at leaf surfaces.

OSMOREGULATION IN PLANTS
Plants are classified into four groups depending on water availability in their environment;
(i) Mesophytes
(ii) Hydrophytes
(iii) Xerophytes
(iv) Halophytes

HYDROPHYTES
These are plants living in fresh water or very wet environments/water logged soils such as in
swamps. These plants may remain fully or partially submerged in water or may float on the water
surface. They have enough water supply and do not face a problem of water shortage. Examples
include; water hyacinth, water lilies, pond weed(elodea), water lettuce etc.

Adaptations of hydrophytes to survive in their environments

(i) They have spongy tissue with large intercellular air spaces to store enough gases and become
buoyant.
(ii) They have leaves with numerous stomata at the upper epidermis than the lower epidermis,
to lose excess water by evaporation.
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(iii) Their leaves have long petioles to easily be exposed to sunlight
(iv) They have broad leaves to increase surface area for water loss from their body tissues.
(v) They have a thick cuticle to prevent excess water from entering into their body tissues.
(vi) They have poorly developed vascular bundles to become less dense and float and to also
minimize the rate of water up take and water absorption.
(vii) They have little or no lignified tissue, the xylem is poorly developed and the root system is
either absent or reduces
(viii) Hydrophytes also carry out mechanical osmoregulation.

Mechanical osmoregulation is a process whereby plants continuously take in water by osmosis

until when their cells become fully turgid so that no more water can enter their cells. Hydrophytes
tend to take in excess water by osmosis because their body fluids are hypertonic to that of the
external medium.

Xerophytes
These are plants which live in hot and dry environments (semi-arid areas). Under very hot
conditions, plants may lose excess water through transpiration. If plants lose too much water than
they can absorb from the soil, they suffer water stress.
Water stress is the condition where a plant loses more water than it can absorb from the soil. In
this case, the plant wilts and may dry up and die. To avoid the effects of water stress, plants living
in hot dry areas (arid areas) have adapted themselves in such a way that they don’t lose too much
water through transpiration.

Xerophytes have the following adaptations;

(i) Shedding off of the leaves. This occurs when the environment is very hot to prevent loss of
water through the leaves.
(ii) Reducing the number of stomata; some plants have fewer stomata most of which are found
on the lower surface of the leaves. This reduces the rate of transpiration.
(iii) In some plants, leaves are reduced to spines i.e have small leaves. This reduces the surface
area over which transpiration occurs thereby reducing the rate of transpiration.
(iv) Rolling of the leaves/folding of leaves; some plants roll their leaves to reduce the surface
area over which transpiration occurs thus reducing the rate of transpiration. Rolling/folding
of leaves also traps moisture within the leaf.
(v) Reversed stomatal opening; In some plants, the stomata open during the night and close
during the day. This reduces transpiration because at night, the temperatures are low and
there is reduced evaporation of water
(vi) Possession of sunken stomata; in some plants, the stomata are sunken so that they are not in
direct contact with sunlight and this reduces the rate of transpiration
(vii) Possession of thick cuticle; this reduces water loss through the cuticle of plant leaves since
the distance over which the molecules of water have to diffuse is increased
(viii) Possession of shiny cuticle; the shiny cuticle reflects light and heat thereby reducing the rate
of transpiration
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(ix) some have thick and succulent leaves and stems to store enough water
(x) Some have long and deep roots to penetrate into deep layers in soil and absorb enough water.
(xi) Some have a network of superficial fibrous roots to absorb enough water from the surface
even after a slight rainfall e.g cactus
(xii) Some have hairy leaves and stems to trap moist air thereby minimizing water loss by
transpiration.

Mesophytes
These are plants which live in areas with soils having adequate amounts of water. They however
lose water by evaporation during hot and dry conditions.

They have the following adaptations

(i) They have a thick cuticle to minimize water loss by transpiration.
(ii) Some e.g. deciduous trees shed their leaves to minimize water loss by transpiration.
(iii) They have leaves with hairy lamina to minimize water loss by transpiration.
(iv) Some have succulent leaves and stems for storage of water and food.
(v) They have more stomata pores at the lower epidermis than at the upper epidermis to minimize
water loss by transpiration.
(vi) Some have perennating organism to survive adverse environmental conditions.

Halophytes
These are plants which colonise soil of high salinity e.g. salt marsh and estuaries.

(i) These plants have roots with a very high solute concentration more than that of external
medium in order to absorb enough water osmotically from medium of high salinity.
(ii) They also store water in succulent tissues
(iii) They are highly tolerant towards physiological drought during condition when the plant roots
cannot absorb water due to a low water potential of soil, mainly due to a high salt
concentration
(iv) Some have perennating organs to survive adverse environmental conditions.
(v) Some can shed their leaves to minimize excessive water loss.
(vi) Some have salt glands at the margins of their leaves, to excrete the excess salts

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TEMPERATURE REGULATION (THERMAL REGULATION)

This is process by which organisms maintain body temperature that is best for enzymatic action.
Thermoregulation occurs by heat gain and heat loss from the body of an organism.

Why is it important to maintain a constant body temperature?

(i) Enzymes that control metabolic processes work within narrow temperature ranges. Very high
temperatures denature enzymes and very low temperatures inactivate the enzymes. Thus
greater Changes in body temperatures cause metabolic processes to stop which leads to death
of an organism.
(ii) Cell membranes become unstable at high temperatures. This affects their structure and
function.
(iii) Temperature affects the diffusion rate of materials within the body. Diffusion rates are
increased by higher temperatures and decreased by lower temperatures
(iv) Temperature regulation enables organisms to survive in a wide variety of habitats
(v) Temperature affects the viscosity of blood, for example blood becomes more viscous (thicker)
as temperature falls
(vi) It enables organisms to remain active all the time

Methods of heat loss and gain by organisms

Organisms can gain or lose heat through the following processes

Conduction.
This is a process by which a body loses or gains heat by physical contact with another body or
surface. For example, sitting on a hot rock or cold floor surface.

Radiation. This is a process by which heat diffuses from a warmer body to a cooler body through
the air. the transfer of heat is in form of rays (usually infra-red rays) or electromagnetic waves and
particles. The body can either gain or loss heat by radiation

Convection. This is the process of heat transfer by air or water currents. It is Is the transfer of heat
from the body to air or water in contact with the body surface.

Evaporation. Loss of water from the body surface in form of vapour. As water evaporates from
the body surface, it is lost along with some heat. This results into cooling of the body of an
organism. E.g heat is lost when water evaporates from the lungs and when sweat evaporates from
the skin.

Factors that affect heat loss and gain

 Environmental temperature. High environmental temperatures promote heat gain while lower
environmental temperatures promote heat loss.
 Size of the organism. Small organisms lose heat faster than large ones. This is because small
organisms have a larger surface area to volume ratio
 Air currents. organisms lose heat in windy environment than in still air.
 Humidity. Heat loss increases with increase in humidity because high humidity makes the
environment colder.
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 Metabolic rate. Heat is produced from body metabolism. Organisms obtain heat from the
process of respiration. The higher the process of metabolism, the higher the amount of heat
gained by the body.

TEMPERATURE REGULATION IN ANIMALS

Animals are grouped into two categories depending on their ability to regulate their body
temperature

1. ENDOTHERMS
These are animals which maintain a constant body temperature regardless of the environmental
temperature. They can maintain a constant body temperature by generating heat internally by
physiological means. They are also called Homeotherms/ Homoiotherm. They include mammals
and birds. The maintenance of a constant body temperature by generating heat from within is called
endothermy. In humans, optimum core body temperature is 370C.
Core body temperature is the temperature of the internal body organs.
Note that only the temperature of the core body can be kept constant by endotherms. The
temperature of the skin and other tissues close to the body surface usually varies with that of the
surrounding environment and is always cooler than that of the core body. It is through these
structures that heat is exchanged with the environment.

2. ECTOTHERMS
These are organisms which gain most of their heat from the external environment. They are also
called poikilotherms i.e organisms whose body temperature depends on environmental
temperature. Their body temperature can only be regulated by behavioral means. Examples include
reptiles, fish, amphibians and all invertebrates. The process of gaining heat from the environment
is ectothermy.

Graph showing relationship between body temperature and environmental temperature for
an endotherm and ectotherm

Endotherm e.g man

Body temperature

Ectotherm e.g lizard

Environmental temperature
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RESPONSES BY ENDOTHERMS TO COLD CONDITIONS

When the environmental temperature is lower than the body temperature, animals lose heat to the
surroundings and the body temperature begins to fall. To raise the body temperature back to the
normal, endotherms carry out the following responses;

a) Physiological responses
1. Vasoconstriction; this is the narrowing of superficial blood vessels/blood vessels near the skin
surface. The vessels become smaller and move deeper in e skin. This reduces blood flow to the
skin hence reducing heat loss from blood by radiation.
2. Contraction of erector pili muscles in the skin. This raises the hairs on the skin which trap a
layer of air around the skin. The layer of air acts as an insulator reducing heat loss from the body
by convection and radiation.
3. Increased metabolic rate; resulting in production of much heat by the body from processes such
as respiration. The heat produced raises the body temperature back to the normal. The increase in
metabolic rate is due to secretion of adrenaline and thyroxine hormones into blood stream by
adrenal glands and thyroid glands respectively.
4. Shivering; due to involuntary contractions of skeletal muscles. The rapid contraction of the
skeletal muscles generates heat which is distributed around the whole body resulting in increase
in body temperature.
5. Reduced sweating which reduces the amount of heat lost by evaporation
Behavioural responses by endotherms during cold conditions
 Sun bathing/basking in the sun
 Taking a hot dink
 Wearing a jacket/putting on thick clothes e.g in man
 Moving near a heat source like fire
 Some migrate from cold regions to hot regions
 Huddling. This is the crowding together of groups of organisms. When the organisms crowd or
cluster together, they create a warm centre and heat is distributed through the organisms. For
example, in honey bees. Huddling also reduces the surface area over which heat can be lost.
 Exercising
 Being active during the day and less at night (being nocturnal)
 Hibernation

RESPONSES TO HOT CONDITIONS BY ENDOTHERMS

When the environmental temperature is higher than the body temperature, animals gain heat to the
surroundings and the body temperature begins to rise. To lower the body temperature back to the
normal, endotherms carry out the following responses;
1.Vasodilation. This is the widening of superficial blood vessels/blood vessels near the skin surface
allowing more blood carrying heat to reach the skin from which it can lose heat to the surrounding.
This results into cooling of the body.

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2.Sweating occurs. The sweat glands secrete sweat which is brought to the skin surface through
sweat ducts. Evaporation of sweat from the skin surface leads to cooling as heat is carried away
with the water vapour. Sweat also moistens the skin surface.
3.Panting. This is rapid breathing through an open mouth. The air in the mouth, trachea and bronchi
is exchanged at a faster rate leading to loss of heat by evaporation. During panting, the animal
hangs out its tongue (perspiration) thus losing heat by evaporation and radiation. Panting in
organisms without sweat glands such as cats and dogs and birds. These organisms have sweat
glands only in the feet pads.
4.Decrease in metabolic rate. When the metabolic rate is low, the amount of heat produced by the
body is low thus preventing overheating.
5.Relaxation of erector pili muscle resulting in lowering of the hairs. When the hairs lie flat on
the body, no air is trapped around the skin hence reduced insulation and heat is lost to the
environment by convection and radiation.

Behavioural responses by endotherms during hot include;

 Licking body fur; some animals lick the body and as the saliva evaporates, heat is lost leading
to cooling e.g kangaroo cats
 Burrowing in the soil/mud
 Drinking cold water/taking cold drinks
 Moving into the shade
 Removing clothes/undressing in humans
 Swimming or staying in the water e.g hippos
 Migrating away from hot regions to cold regions
 Aestivation

TEMPERATURE REGULATION IN ECTOTHERMS

Ectotherms have no physiological mechanisms of regulating body temperature. They can only
employ behavioural mechanisms to regulate their body temperature.

Responses to cold conditions

 Basking in the sun eg lizards and snakes
 Migrating to hot areas
 Hibernating during extremely low environmental temperature especially in amphibians
 Some burrow in the ground to minimize heat loss
Responses to hot conditions
 Moving into the shade
 Bathing in the mud
 Burrowing into the ground or hiding in hiding under rocks e.g snakes and lizaerds.
 Salivating over the neck and legs, e.g tortoises. This increases heat loss by evaporation
 Thermal gaping e.g in crocodiles and alligators. This is the opening of the mouth to allow
evaporation of water from the buccal cavity.
 Aestivation

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Advantages of endothermy
1. Endotherms can live in a wide range of habitats with varying temperatures since they can
maintain an almost constant body temperature
2. Enzyme controlled reactions can proceed without interruption since an optimum body
temperature is maintained
3. Endotherms have high metabolic rate and can remain active throughout.

Disadvantages of endotherms
1. They need to consume a lot of food due to high metabolic rate
2. They require food with a high calorific value in order to produce the required energy to keep
them warm.

Advantages of ectothermy
1. They need a low food consumption due to low metabolic rate since temperature regulation is
by behavioural means
2. They produce fewer wastes due to low metabolism

Disadvantages of ectotherms
1. They can live in limited environments
2. Their activities are limited during instances of extreme temperatures.
3. Since their body temperature depends on that of the environment, they can die in case of
very extreme environmental temperatures
4. Response to stimulus is slow due to low metabolic rate and have low chances of survival
in case of danger.

ROLE OF HYPOTHALAMUS IN TEMPERATURE REGULATION

The control centre for temperature regulation in mammals is a region of the fore brain called the
hypothalamus. It is called the thermoregulatory centre. It consists of a heat gain centre and a
heat loss centre. The hypothalamus has temperature sensitive nerve cells (neurons) which detect
temperature of the blood flowing through the brain. It also receives information via sensory nerves
from temperature receptors in the skin and many internal organs.
When the body temperature is higher than the normal (in hot temperatures), the thermos receptors
in the hypothalamus detect the high temperature of blood flowing through the brain. The heat loss
centre in the anterior hypothalamus is stimulated and transmits impulses via efferent nerves to the
effectors that encourage heat loss and prevent heat generation; like the skin, sweat glands, and
erector pili muscles. The superficial blood vessels (arterioles) dilate, increased seating, erector pili
muscles relax to lower the hairs, and the metabolic rate decreases. These processes reduce the body
temperature back to the normal.
When the body temperature is lower than the normal (in cold temperatures). Thermo receptors in
the hypothalamus also detect the cold temperature of blood as it flows through the brain. The heat
gain centre is stimulated and sends impulses via efferent nerve to respective effectors which bring
about changes to minimize heat loss and generate heat. The impulses are sent to the skin, hair
erector muscles, and sweat glands. The superficial blood vessels constrict, shivering occurs,
erector pili muscles contract to raise the hair, brown fat respiration is enhanced. These processes
increase the temperature back to the normal.
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The thermoreceptors in the skin play a role of detecting changes in environmental temperatures.
When the environmental temperature is low (during cold), cold receptors detect the low
temperatures and send impulses through the afferent nerve to the hypothalamus. This iniates
voluntary actions such as doing an exercise during cold, putting on heavy clothes, or moving near
a heat source.
When the environmental temperature is high (during hot), heat receptors detect the high
temperatures and send impulses through the afferent nerve to the hypothalamus. This iniates
voluntary actions such as moving into the shade, taking a cold drink, bathing etc.
Note:
Metabolism of brown fats generate a large heat content than carbohydrates and white fats. That’s
why babies have a large brown fat content to generate a large heat to compensate the large heat
loss from their bodies.
It is mainly the change in core temp of the body which induces the thermoregulatory centre of the
hypothalamus to bring about; thermoregulatory changes to restore the deviation back to the norm.
That’s why when a person ingests ice the temperature of the hypothalamus is lowered due to loss
of heat by blood to the ice the gut.

Heat Positive
receptors in corrective measures feedback
skin  Vasodilation of skin results into
capillaries hyperthermia
 Onset of
Hypothalamus sweating/panting
(heat loss centre)  Hairs raised (relaxation
of erector pili-muscle) Body temp falls
 Decreased metabolic rate (negative feedback)
 Decreased muscular
activity
Normal body Behavioural changes Normal body
temperature Cerebral temperature
 Change in position
hemisphere
 Change in activity
 Change in clothing
Body temp rises
(negative feedback)

corrective measures
Hypothalamus  Vasoconstriction of skin
(heat gain centre) capillaries
 Onset of shivering
 Sweating inhibited
 Hairs lowered (contraction
of erector pili-muscle)
Cold  Increased metabolic rate
receptors in
skin Positive feedback results
into hypothermia 46
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Hypothermia
This is a condition where the core body temperature of an organism falls too low when the body
loses heat faster than it can produce and homeostatic mechanisms of temp control fail due to
prolonged and extreme coldness. In humans, it usually results when body temperature falls below
350C.symptoms include shivering, weak pulse, slow breathing, sluggishness, lack of coordination,
confusion, loss of consciousness.
If left untreated, hypothermia can lead to complete failure of the heart and respiratory system and
eventually death. Initial treatment involves warming the body back to normal temperature back to
normal. E.g warm clothing, warm drinks, heating blankets.
Hyperthermia
This is a condition where the core body temperatures rise to very high levels when body gains heat
faster than it can lose and homeostatic mechanisms of temperature control fail due to the
environment becoming extremely hot and humid. In humans, hyperthermia results when core
body temperature rises above 410C. Symptoms include heavy sweating, rapid breathing, fast weak
pulse, hot dry skin, headache, and confusion if severe.
Initial treatment involves Increased water consumption, resting in cool place, tepid sponging,
loosening clothing, fanning etc. If temperatures continue to rise, the individual dies, usually above
430C
EFFECT OF CHANGING THE ENVIRONMENTAL TEMPERATURE
In endotherms, body temperature can be regulated by physical (insulatory) and chemical
mechanisms (metabolic rate). Physical means include vasoconstriction, vasodilation, contraction
and relaxation of the erector pili muscles. Physical means alone can regulate the temperature up
to a given point and then fail. Then the metabolic rate will start to increase. This can also sustain
the organism up to a given limit beyond which the organism dies.

When the environmental temperature is decreased, (e.g consider a naked man when the
environmental temperature is decreased up to freezing point); the body regulates its temperature
by physical means alone with the metabolic rate remaining constant up to a point when the physical
mechanisms can no longer maintain a constant body temperature. At this point, the metabolic rate
starts to increase. This is the low critical temperature. It is usually 27OC in humans.

When this temperature is furthered lowered below the, the metabolic rate continues to increases
with a further decrease in temperature until the chemical mechanisms breakdown. At this point,
the lower lethal temperature is reached and the person dies. This is always below 26.00c of the
human being.

When the environmental temperature increases, the body regulates its temperature by physical
means alone up to a point when the physical mechanisms can no longer maintain a constant body
temperature. This point is the high critical temperature. At this point, the metabolic rate starts to
increase. The metabolic rate continues to increase with further increase in temperature, doubling
for every 10oC rise in environmental temperature. When the body temperature continues to
increase, the heat exhaustion occurs and the organism dies (there is denaturation of enzymes and
permanent tissue damage). This point is the upper lethal temperature. It is 420C in humans.
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NB. When the physical regulatory mechanisms of the body break down (at high critical
temperature), the metabolic rate will continue to increase even if the environmental temperature is
no longer increasing. This is because every time metabolic rate increases, more heat is generated
which increases the metabolic rate further. This is an example of a positive feedback mechanism.
The individual dies due to heat exhaustion characterized by cramps, dizziness. All the enzymes
are denatured and the brain cells are damaged.

Physiological mechanisms alone can regulate the body temperature between low and high critical
temperature. This is called the efficiency range. Above the high critical temperature, cooling
mechanisms fail and metabolic rate starts increasing. Below the low critical temperature, physical
mechanisms fail and metabolic rate starts increasing.

A graph showing the variation of metabolic rate with environmental temperature in a given
mammal

Low critical High critical

Lower lethal temperature Upper lethal
temperature
temperature temperature
Metabolic rate

Efficiency
range

Basal metabolic rate

Environmental temperature
Definition of terms
Low critical temperature. This is the lowest temperature at which physical mechanisms alone
can regulate the body temperature/ the lowest temperature when the physical mechanisms alone
are used to regulate the body temperature.
Lower lethal temperature. The lowest temperature at which the chemical mechanisms of the
body for temperature regulation breaks down resulting into death of an individual

High critical temperature. This is the highest temperature at which physical mechanisms alone
can regulate the body temperature/can maintain a constant body temperature.

Upper lethal temperature. This is the highest environmental temperature at which increased
metabolic rate generates excessive heat which denatures enzymes and other structures, resulting

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into death of the organism/ The highest temperature at which the chemical mechanisms of the body
for temperature regulation breaks down resulting into death of an individual
The human body can die at temp of 430 C.

Efficiency range. This is a range of temperature over which the body’s physiological mechanisms
alone can maintain a constant body temperature. In humans, it’s between 270C to 410C.

The efficiency range of an animal is not fixed but can be adjusted for the organisms to survive in
regions of different temperature. Animals have the ability to acclimatize in order to survive in wide
ranges of temperatures. When the environmental temperature increases, they acclimatize by raising
the high critical temperature so that the high lethal value cannot easily be reached and when the
environmental temperature is low, they acclimatize by lowering the low critical temperature such
that the lower lethal temp cannot easily be reached.

The efficiency range can vary from animal to animal depending on the environmental temperature
of their habitats. Organisms of different regions with varying temperatures have different low and
high critical temperatures and also different lower and higher lethal temperatures e.g. the desert
kangaroo rat lives in a region with high temperatures and its low critical temp is higher than that
of arctic fox which lives in extremely cold conditions.

Graph showing metabolic rate of various mammals against external temperature.

‘arctic’ ‘tropical'

FA, page 239.

Human body
temp
See functional approach, page 239

From the graph, it is observed that;

 Animals living in cold environments have a lower critical temperature than those which live
in warm places. E.g the kangaroo rat Dipodomys which lives in desert regions has a low critical
temperature of 310C while the arctic fox has a low critical temperature of -400C.
 The lower lethal temperature is also much lower for cold dwellers than for warm dwellers

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 Below the lower critical temperature, increase in metabolic rate is more rapid for warm
dwellers than cold dwellers.

The above observations indicate that animals in cold conditions have better insulation mechanisms
than those living in warm places. This enhances their survival.

Adaptations of organisms to survive in extreme environments

Adaptations to life at high temperatures

a) Structural adaptations:
(i) Possession of a thin layer of sub-cutaneous fat to reduce insulation and increase heat loss. The
fat depots are also localized in order to encourage heat loss in other parts, e.g camels have a
large hump where fat is stored, in buffalos, it is stored on top of the neck.
(ii) Possession of larger extremities e.g large ear lobes, to increase surface area for heat loss. E.g
in elephants. The ear lobes are also thin with a rich blood supply to increase heat loss.
(iii) Possession of a thin layer of fur/hairs on the body surface to minimize insulation and increases
heat loss. Some animals have few and scattered hairs to increase heat loss.
(iv) Development of smaller body size than their counterparts in colder climates to increase
surface area for increased heat loss.
(v) Having tissues that are tolerant to large temperature fluctuations between day and night e.g.
the camel.
(vi) Developing nocturnal bahaviour, resting during the day and becoming active at night which
reduces water loss by evaporation because of the lower temperature and higher humidity of
night air.
(vii) Some animals aestivate.

Aestivation is a state of dormancy or inactivity of an organism in response to prolonged drought

or excessive heat during which the metabolic rate together with body temperature reduce to the
minimum required for maintaining the vital activities of the body. Growth and development is also
suspended to survive hot and dry conditions. E.g lungfish, earth worms, and garden snails. The
lung fish burrows into mud and secretes mucus around itself to form a cacoon around its body until
the dry season ends. They can aestivate for up to six months.
NB. Aestivation and hibernation are basically the same because in all cases, the animal becomes
dormant/inactive and its metabolic rate reduces to a minimum in order for the organism to survive
extreme temperatures that would otherwise overcome its homeostatic mechanisms.

Adaptations of organisms to life at low temperatures

 Possession of thick fur/hair for insulating the body against heat loss e.g. polar bears.
 Possession of thick layer of subcutaneous fat to increase insulation against heat loss e.g. polar
bears and s eals.
 Possession of small body extremities e.g small ear lobes to reduce surface area for heat loss
 Development of larger body size than their counterparts in warmer climates to reduce surface
area for heat loss.
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 Development of countercurrent heat exchange systems in limbs to enable heat conservation
by minimizing its loss to the environment. E.g. in duck’s legs, dolphin’s flippers.
 Some animals migrate to warmer places e.g. birds like swallows
 Small sized animals hibernate e.g. bats, dormice, hamsters, hedgehogs, and rodents like mice.

Hibernation
This is the state of dormancy /inactivity of an organism where the metabolic rate is greatly
decreased to a minimum required for maintaining the vital activities of the cells during cold
conditions. Growth and development is suspended. The animal goes into deep sleep to reduce
energy needs and survive the winter season when the environmental temperature is very low and
food is scarce. The animal survives on food reserves/ fats stored in their bodies to maintain a slow
rate of metabolism.
Brown fat is conserved and used up rapidly at the end of hibernation to quickly raise the metabolic
heat. Brown fat owes its colour to the numerous mitochondria it contains. Brown fat generates
heat more quickly than white fat.
At the end of hibernation, the oxygen consumption increases rapidly due to increased metabolism
to generate heat quickly.

Note that during hibernation, temperature regulation does not completely stop, but operates at a
lower set point in order to save energy.
In general, it is small animals which go into hibernation because they have a large surface area to
volume ratio and lose heat more rapidly. To compensate the much lost heat, they need a high
metabolic rate which requires to consume a lot of food that is not available in winter.

A graph showing relationship between body temperature and environmental temperature

for three kinds of animals

Summer
Body temperature increasing

Non-hibernating endotherm

Winter
Ectotherm
Hibernating endotherm

Air temperature decreasing

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From the graph, it is observed that;
For the hibernating endotherm, body temperature remains constant for a short time with decreasing
environmental temperature. The body temperature than decreases rapidly due to breakdown of
physiological means. The body temperature is then maintained constant at a lower level than the
normal in order to save energy since the animal is in hibernation. The body temperature then
decreases with further decrease in environmental temperature.
For the non-hibernating endotherm, body temperature remains constant for a long time. This
is because the physiological mechanisms are still capable of maintaining a constant body
temperature. With further increase in air temperature, the body temperature decreases rapidly due
to breakdown of physiological means.
For the ectotherm, body temperature decreases rapidly with decreasing air temperature because
the ectotherm cannot maintain a constant body temperature by physiological means.

COUNTERCURRENT HEAT EXCHANGE SYSTEM

Counter current heat exchange is the transfer of heat between blood flowing in opposite directions
where heat in arterial blood emerging from the body core is transferred directly to the returning
venous blood from the body extremities instead of being lost to the environment.
In a countercurrent heat exchanger, arteries carrying warm blood to the limbs are in close contact
with the veins returning cold blood in the opposite direction back to the core body. Because blood
flows through the arteries and veins in opposite directions, heat is transferred from arteries to veins
along the entire length of the blood vessels. As the blood in veins approaches the centre of the
body, it is almost as warm as the body core. As blood in arteries reaches the tip of the limb, it has
already been cooled so that little heat is lost to the surrounding.

Many birds and mammals rely on countercurrent heat exchange mechanism to minimize heat loss
that results from supplying blood to body extremities especially when immersed in cold water or
in contact with ice or snow, e.g in limbs of birds.

Diagram showing countercurrent heat exchange in a limb

The artery and vein run parallel to each other. The cold
blood in the veins continues to absorb heat as it passes
warmer and warmer blood travelling in the opposite
direction in arteries. At each level, heat energy is
transferred from the artery to the vein, so that by the time
the venous blood leaves the limb, it is almost as warm as
the arterial blood

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TEMPERATURE TOLERANCE
This is where an organism has tissues that are tolerant to large temperature fluctuations between
day and night i.e having tissues than can function well over a wide range of temperatures. The best
example is the camel.

During the day, the camels body temperature increases gradually up to very high temperature (as
high as 400C). At night when the environment is cold, the camel loses a lot of heat and its body
temperature decreases to a very low value (340C). This means that on the next day, the body
temperature has to rise from a very low starting point and it cannot reach a lethal value by the end
of the day.

QUESTIONS
1. Explain how counter current heat exchange minimizes heat loss
2. Explain the problems faced by organisms living in the following environments and how they
have been able to overcome
a) Fresh water
b) Sea water
c) Brackish water
d) Terrestrial environments

THE MAMMALIAN SKIN

The mammalian skin is the largest organ of the body forming a barrier between the internal and
external environments. It plays a major role in temperature regulation.

Structure of the skin

It consists of two main layers, the epidermis and the dermis. Below the dermis is a subcutaneous
fat layer.
1. The epidermis
This is the outermost layer of the skin. The epidermis consists of three separate layers and these
include;
(i) The cornified layer (stratum corneum)
This is the surface/outermost layer consisting of fl dead cells called corneocytes that are constantly
worn out and replaced. The cells are flattened, highly keratinized and lack a nucleus. It is tough,
resistant to damage and water proof.
The cornified layer prevents entry of pathogens such as bacteria and also reduces water loss by
evaporation.
(ii) The granular layer (stratum granulosum)
This is a layer of living cells containing many granules. The cells are called keratinocytes. They
produce a lot of keratin and become filled with keratin, a process called keratinization. The cells
become flatter, lose their nuclei and cytoplasmic contents as they leave this layer and pushed
upwards to replace cells in the cornified layer. It is responsible for the development of the cornified
layer.
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(iii)The Malpighian layer (germinal layer)

This is the inner layer consisting of actively dividing cells. It is where keratinocytes are formed
before moving up to the surface. It also forms special cells called melanocytes which produce
melanin pigment that gives the skin its colour. It also protects the inner layer of the skin from
damage by ultraviolet rays from the sun as melanin absorbs uv light.

NB. There are no blood vessels in the epidermis and the cells of this layer obtain food and oxygen
by diffusion and active transport from capillaries in the dermis.

2. THE DERMIS
This is the inner layer of the skin. It thicker than the epidermis and contains blood vessels, nerve
endings, sweat glands, hair follicles and sensory receptors which detect changes in heat, coldness
and pressure. It is mainly a connective tissue consisting of collagen and elastic fibres.
The blood capillaries. These supply the skin with food and oxygen and carry away excretory
wastes from the skin. They also play a role in temperature regulation.
Sebaceous glands/oil glands. These are situated at the side of the hair follicle. They secrete an
oily substance called sebum that makes the skin water proof. It also keeps the epidermis
tender/supple and protects against bacteria
Sweat glands. These are coiled tubes with a duct that runs to the surface of the skin. The seat
glands secrete sweat which is a mixture of water, mineral salts and urea. Sweat cools the body as
it evaporates from the skin surface.
Hair follicles. These are pits formed by inpushings of the Malpighian layer. The hair follicles give
rise to hairs which are made up of keratin protein. The bases of hair follicles are attached to erector-
pili muscles which contract to raise the hairs on the skin surface. The hairs trap a layer of air that
insulates the body against heat loss.
Nerve endings. These act as receptors for different stimuli. E.g free nerve endings act as pain
receptors, temperature receptors, Pacinian corpuscles are pressure receptors, Meissner’s
corpuscles are touch receptors etc.

The subcutaneous fat layer/adipose tissue. This is a layer of fat located beneath the dermis. It
stores fats as energy reserves for the body. It also insulates the body against heat loss being a poor
conductor of heat.
The adipose tissue which insulates against heat loss is made of white fat, but some adipose tissue
is made of brown fat. The brown fat cells contain numerous mitochondria and have a high
metabolic rate. Brown fat produces much body heat. Thin people have more brown fat.

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Structure of the skin

Functions of the skin:

1. It protects the inner parts of the body against mechanical injury and ultraviolet radiations from
the sun.
2. It also acts as a barrier preventing entry of germs into the body and acts as a first line of
defence against pathogens
3. It forms a water proof layer around the body which prevents water loss from the body by
evaporation
4. It is important in temperature regulation by insulating the body against heat loss.
5. It is a sense organ, containing sensory nerve endings for detecting temperature, touch,
pressure and pain.
6. It is an excretory organ for sweat which contains excess water, salts and urea
7. It manufactures vitamin D when exposed to sun light. The dermis contains lipids called sterols
which are converted by ultraviolet light into vitamin D.
8. The adipose tissue beneath the skin is an energy store for use during adverse conditions
9. The skin colour provides camouflage to protect organisms from predators
10. It is important in communication by releasing pheromones from specialized sweat glands.
Question
Explain how the mammalian skin is adapted to perform its function

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