HBS: 3.4 Key Terms

Hormone-producing glands located superior to the kidneys; each consists of a medulla and a cortex.

A mineralcortocoid produced by the adrenal cortex that promotes sodium and water reabsorption by the kidneys and potassium excretion in urine.

Hormone produced by the neurosecretory cells in the hypothalamus that stimulates water reabsorption from kidney tubule cells into the blood and vasoconstriction of arterioles.

The disposal of nitrogen-containing waste products of metabolism.

In the vertebrate kidney, the extraction of water and small solutes, including metabolic wastes, from the blood by the nephrons.

The first step in urine formation in which substances in blood pass through the filtration membrane and the filtrate enters the proximal convoluted tubule of the nephron.

A ball of capillaries surrounded by Bowman's capsule in the nephron and serving as the site of filtration in the vertebrate kidney.

One of a pair of vertebrate organs situated in the body cavity near the spinal column that excrete waste products of metabolism, in humans are bean-shaped organs about 4½ inches (11½ centimeters) long lying behind the peritoneum in a mass of fatty tissue, and consist chiefly of nephrons by which urine is secreted, collected, and discharged into the pelvis of the kidney whence it is conveyed by the ureter to the bladder.

The tubular excretory unit of the vertebrate kidney.

A duct leading from the kidney to the urinary bladder.

A tube that releases urine from the body near the vagina in females or through the penis in males; also serves in males as the exit tube for the reproductive system.

Chemical analysis of urine.

The pouch where urine is stored prior to elimination.

The organs of the urinary tract comprising the kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder, and urethra.

Waste material that is secreted by the kidney, is rich in end products (as urea, uric acid, and creatinine) of protein metabolism together with salts and pigments, and forms a clear amber and usually slightly acid fluid.