The urinary system, also known as the renal system or urinary tract, consists of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and the urethra. The purpose of the urinary system is to eliminate waste from the body, regulate blood volume and blood pressure, control levels of electrolytes and metabolites, and regulate blood pH.

Much of renal physiology is studied at the level of the nephron, the smallest functional unit of the kidney. Each nephron begins with a filtration component that filters the blood entering the kidney. These filtrate then flows along the length of the nephron, which is a tubular structure lined by a single layer of specialized cells and surrounded by capillaries. The major functions of these lining cells are the reabsorption of water and small molecules from the filtrate into the blood, and the secretion of wastes from the blood into the urine.

Filtration

The blood is filtered by nephrons, the functional units of the kidney. Each nephron begins in a renal corpuscle, which is composed of a glomerulus enclosed in a Bowman's capsule. Cells, proteins, and other large molecules are filtered out of the glomerulus by a process of ultrafiltration, leaving an ultra-filtrate that resembles plasma (except that the ultra-filtrate has negligible plasma proteins) to enter Bowman's space. Filtration is driven by Starling forces.

Reabsorption

Tubular reabsorption is the process by which solutes and water are removed from the tubular fluid and transported into the blood. It is called reabsorption (and not absorption) both because these substances have already been absorbed once (particularly in the intestines) and because the body is reclaiming them from a post glomerular fluid stream that is well on its way to becoming urine (that is, they will soon be lost to the urine unless they are reclaimed).

Osmolality
There is two systems that create a hyperosmotic medulla and thus increase the body plasma volume: Urea recycling and the ‘single effect’.

Urea is usually excreted as a waste product from the kidneys. However, when plasma blood volume is low and ADH is released the aquaporin’s that are opened are also permeable to urea. This allows urea to leave the collecting duct into the medulla, creating a hyperosmotic solution that "attracts" water. Urea can then re-enter the nephron and be excreted or recycled again depending on whether ADH is still present or not.

Formation of urine
The kidney's ability to perform many of its functions depends on the three fundamental functions of filtration, reabsorption, and secretion, whose sum is called renal clearance or renal excretion.

Journal of Nephrology and Urology is an Open Access peer-reviewed publication that discusses current research and advancements in diagnosis and management of kidney disorders as well as related epidemiology, pathophysiology and molecular genetics.

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Regards
Maya Wilson
Editorial Assistant
Journal of Nephrology and Urology