Biliary secretion: Hepatobiliary function Flashcards
what is the livers Main functions in its role with the GI function?
- Bile production and secretion
- Metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids
- Bilirubin production and excretion
- Detoxification of substances
What two capillary beds do the hepatic portal system connects?
1) That of the abdominal and pelvic parts of the gut from the abddominal part of the esophagus to the lower anal canal together with the pancreas, gallbladder and spleen
2) Hepatic sinusoidal capillary bed
What are the three main Metabolic functions of the liver?
Carbohydrate metabolism:
- gluconeogenesis
- storage of glucose as glycogen
- release of glucose
Protein Metabolism:
- synthesis of nonessential amino acids
- Modifications of amino acids for use
- synthesis of almost all plasma proteins
- conversion of ammonia to urea
Lipid metabolism:
- Fatty acid oxidation
- synthesis of lipoproteins, cholesterol, and phospholipids
in liver failure: what might arise based on the plasma proteins?
since liver is important for synthesis of all plasma proteins
-liver failure can result in hypoalbuminemia which may lead to edema
what are clinical manifestations of liver function failure?
- Hepatic enecphalopathy
- Ascites
- Caput medusae
- Esophageal varices
- Bruising
what is cirrhosis? main cause? what is steatohepatitis?
Chronic liver disease in which normal liver cells are damaged and replaced by scar tissue
- Excessive alcohol is the most common cause
- alcohol abuse leads to accumulation of fat within the hepatocytes
Fatty liver leads to steatohepatitis
-fatty liver accompanied by inflammation which leads to scarring of liver and cirrhosis
what can cirrhosis lead to in the liver?
Portal hypertension
Develops when there is resistance to portal blood flow, which most often occurs in the liver
What are the changes to the venous circulation assocated with portal hypertension?
Esophageal varices:
-swollen connection between systemic and portal systems at inferior end of esophagus
Caput Medusae:
-swollen connections between systemic and portal systems around umbilicus
How does liver dysfunction lead to hepatic encephalopathy?
Decreased hepatic urea cycle metabolism in the context of liver cirrhosis or portosystemic shunting leads to accumulation of ammonia in the systemic circulation
Ammonia readily crosses the blood brain barrier and alters brain function
what is the composition of bile and what is biles function?
Bile composition:
- Bile salts 50%
- Bile pigments (bilirubin) 2%
- Cholesterol (4%)
- Phospholipids (40%) (lecithin)
- Ions
- H2O
Bile function:
- Vehicle for the elimination of substances from the body
- solves the insolubility problem of lipids
where does formation of the bile acids and salts occur and what are their names?
Primary bile acids: location of synthesis is the liver hepatocytes
- Cholic acid
- chenodeoxycholic acid
Secondary bile acids: Location lumen of small intestine
- Deoxycholic acid
- Lithocholic acid
Bile salts: location of conjugation is the liver
-all the previous acids with either a glycine or taurine
How do bile salts help with digestion?
they form a micelle with the products of lipid digestion to help with the access of the lipid to make them more soluble
what is the route of the bile in the biliary system?
Created in the liver where they then travel to the gall bladder where they are stored and concentrated between meals
Bile released into the duodenum where they emulsify and digest the fats
in the jejunum the form their micelles and allow for fat absorption
in the ileum there is active absorption of bile acids
5 step mechanism of bile secretion and absorption of bile salts?
1) synthesis and secretion of bile salts from the liver
2) bile salts are strored and concentrated in the gallbladder due to absorption of ions and H20 (secretin important in this)
3) CCK induced gallbladder contraction and sphincter of oddi relaxation
4) Absorption of bile salts into the portal circulation
5) delivery of bile salts to the liver
How are bile salts secreted across the canalicular membrane?
Together with newly synthesized bile acids, and the returning bile acids are secreted into the bile canaliculi by ductule cells in response to the osmotic effects of anion transport
Secretion of bile acids is accompanied by the passive movement of cations into the canaliculus (H20, Ca, K, Cl, Na)
Canalicular bile is primarly an ultrafiltrate of plasma
What does Secretin stimulate in the ductule cells of the biliary system?
Secretin stimulates the secretion of HCO3- and H20 from the ductile cells resulting in a significant increase in bile volume, HCO3- concentration and pH
-decrease in the concentration of bile salts
what occurs in the gallbladder to make the bile more concentrated?
absorption of Na+, Cl-, HCO3-, and H20
-ACh plays a role in this