Urine is continuously formed by the kidneys. It is an ultrafiltrate of plasma from which glucose, amino acids, water, and other substances essential to body metabolism have been reabsorbed. A complex physiologic process converts approximately 170,000 mL of filtered plasma to the average daily urine output of 1200 mL.
Urine formation takes place in the kidneys, two fist-sized organs located outside the peritoneal cavity on each side of the spine, at about the level of the last thoracic and first two lumbar vertebrae. The kidneys, together with the skin and the respiratory system, are the chief excretory organs of the body. Each kidney is a highly discriminatory organ that maintains the internal environment of the body by selective secretion or reabsorption of various substances according to specific body needs.
The main functional unit of the kidney is the nephron. There are about 1–1.5 million nephrons per kidney, each composed of two main parts: a glomerulus, which is essentially a filtering system, and a tubule, through which the filtered liquid passes. Each glomerulus consists of a capillary network surrounded by a membrane called Bowman capsule, which continues on to form the beginning of the renal tubule. The kidney’s ability to clear waste products selectively from the blood while maintaining the essential water and electrolyte balances in the body is controlled in the nephron by renal blood flow, glomerular filtration, and tubular reabsorption and secretion.
Blood is supplied to each kidney by a renal artery and enters the nephron through the afferent arteriole. It flows through the glomerulus and into the efferent arteriole. The varying size of these arterioles creates the hydrostatic pressure difference necessary for glomerular filtration and serves to maintain glomerular capillary pressure and consistent renal blood flow within the glomerulus. (The smaller size of the efferent arteriole produces an increase in the glomerular capillary pressure, which aids in urine formation.)
As the filtrate passes along the tubule, more solutes are added by excretion from the capillary blood and secretions from the tubular epithelial cells. Essential solutes and water pass back into the blood through the mechanism of tubular reabsorption. Finally, urine concentration and dilution occur in the renal medulla. The kidney has the remarkable ability to dilute or concentrate urine, according to the needs of the individual, and to regulate sodium excretion. Blood chemistry, blood pressure, fluid balance, and nutrient intake, together with the general state of health, are key elements in this entire metabolic process.