Urinary tract poison excretion

The main factor in determining whether or not a drug or poison will be excreted via the urinary tract is its lipophilicity. If the material is lipophilic it can be reabsorbed by passive diffusion. The glomerular filtration rate, individual tubule secretory systems, and tubule exchange systems will help to establish excretion rates. Because a molecule s lipophilicity can be pH-dependent the acidity of the urine is extremely important. 

Symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning have been reviewed (4-6). The symptoms are listed in Table 1. The urinary tract is very sensitive to poisoning by all forms of mercury, a sensitive indicator of early injury being a rise in the urinary excretion of A-acetyl-beta-D-glucosamini-dase (NAG) (7). 

The urinary tract for the removal of liquid waste from the body consists of several organs. The kidneys, located in the lower back, filter metabolic waste products and excess water from the blood and convert them into urine. Urine passes through tubes called ureters into the bladder, where it is stored until it is excreted through the urethra. In males, the urethra passes through the penis. If metabolic waste products such as urea, uric acid, and creatinine were not removed, they would accumulate in the blood and poison the tissues throughout the body. 

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