2. Contents of the presentation
• Different parts of the human excretory system
• What are kidneys ? What are their functions ?
• What is haemodialysis ?
• Kidney failure
• The different types of kidney diseases
3. What are the different parts
of the human excretory
system
The human excretory system is
made up of :
a) A pair of kidneys
b) A pair of ureters
c) Urinary bladder
d) Urethra
4. What are kidneys ? What are their functions ?
• The kidneys are bean shaped organs that remove excess organic molecules
produced by the different metabolic activities in the human body.
• Kidneys are essential for maintaining the electrolytes in our body and maintain the
pH of the blood and for the regulation of blood pressure (by maintaining the salt
and water balance in the body)
• Kidneys serve as the natural filters of the blood and remove water soluble wastes
which are diverted to the urinary bladder . In producing urine kidneys remove
wastes like amino acids , glucose and other substances which are again reabsorbed
5. What are kidneys what are their functions
• The kidneys produce different hormones to remove the wastes these are
Calcitriol , erythropoietin.
• The kidneys are located on the rear of the abdominal cavity. The kidneys
receive blood from paired renal arteries which drain into the nephrons
• The nephrons are the basic functional unit of the kidneys. The renal artery
form capillaries and drain into the glomerulus a cup shaped structure of the
nephron and travel through the ureters to the urinary bladder and is released
as urine .
6. Basic functional units of kidneys
About the nephrons
NEPHROS is the Greek word for kidney. The
tiny structures that do the work in your kidneys
are called NEPHRONS. Each of your kidneys
contains about one million nephrons. Each
nephron has a small blood vessel that brings in
unfiltered blood, a GLOMERULUS (glow-mare-
Yule-us) that filters the blood, a tubule that caries
away filtered waste materials in the urine, and a
small blood vessel that returns filtered blood to
the body.
7. The Glomerulus
About the glomerulus
A glomerulus is a network of capillaries located at the
beginning of a nephron in the kidney. It serves as the
first stage in the filtering process of the blood carried
out by the nephron in its formation of urine
The glomerulus is surrounded by a cup-like sac known
as Bowman’s capsule. The blood plasma is filtered
through the capillaries of the glomerulus into the
capsule. The Bowman's capsule empties the filtrate
into the proximal tubule that is also part of the nephron.
8. What is haemodialysis ?
• Haemodialysis is the process of removing nitrogenous wastes as well as free
water from the body from the blood artificially using a machine called
dialyser. Modern dialyzers typically consist of a cylindrical rigid casing
enclosing hollow fibers cast or extruded from a polymer or copolymer,
which is usually a proprietary formulation. The combined area of the hollow
fibers is typically between 1-2 square meters. Intensive research has been
conducted by many groups to optimize blood and dialysate flows within the
dialyzer, in order to achieve efficient transfer of wastes from blood to
dialysate.
9. Kidney failure and kidney diseases
• Kidneys are paired vital organs located behind the abdominal cavity, at about
the level of the bottom of the ribcage. They perform about a dozen
physiologic functions, and are fairly easily damaged. Kidney failure results in
the slow accumulation of nitrogenous wastes, salts, water, and disruption of
the body's normal pH balance. Until the Second World War, kidney failure
generally meant death for the patient.
• The accumulation of the wastes converts it into neurotoxins. These
neurotoxins damage the nervous system leading to the person’s death.
10. Different types of kidney failures
• Kidney disease, also known as Nephropathy, means damage to or disease of a
kidney. Nephrosis is non-inflammatory nephropathy. Nephritis is inflammatory
kidney disease.
• There are mainly 3 types of kidney failures presented in the presentation:
a) Deposition of the IgA antibodies in the glomerulus
b) Administration of analgesics
c) Toxicity of Chemotherapy Agents
11. Kidney failure due to deposition of IgA
antibodies in glomerulus
• Immunoglobulin A (IgA) is an antibody that plays a critical role in mucosal
immunity. More IgA is produced in mucosal linings than all other types of antibody
combined between three and five grams are secreted into the intestinal lumen each
day. This accumulates up to 15% of the total immunoglobulin produced in the
entire body.
• IgA nephropathy is the most common glomerulonephritis throughout the world
Primary IgA nephropathy is characterized by deposition of the IgA antibody in the
glomerulus. The classic presentation (in 40-50% of the cases). Less commonly
gastrointestinal or urinary infection can be the inciting agent. All of these infections
have in common the activation of mucosal defenses and hence IgA antibody
production. which get deposited in the glomerulus and result in kidney failure.
12. Kidney failure due to administration of
analgesics
• One cause of nephropathy is the long term usage of analgesics. The pain
medicines which can cause kidney problems include aspirin, acetaminophen,
and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs. This form of
nephropathy is "chronic analgesic nephritis," a chronic inflammatory change
characterized.
• The basic symptoms of kidney failures are nausea, vomiting , loss of
appetite, fatigue and weakness, sleep problems , changes in urine output
decreased mental sharpness, muscle twitches and cramps.
13. Kidney failure due to toxicity of
chemotherapy agents
• Kidney failure Nephropathy can be associated with some therapies used to treat
cancer. The most common form of kidney disease in cancer patients is Acute
Kidney Injury (AKI) which can usually be due to volume depletion from vomiting
and diarrhea that occur following chemotherapy or occasionally due to kidney
toxicities of chemotherapeutic agents. Kidney failure from break down of cancer
cells, usually after chemotherapy, is unique. Several chemotherapeutic agents, for
example Cisplatin, are associated with acute and chronic kidney injuries. Newer
agents such as anti Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (anti VEGF) are also
associated with similar injuries
