Digestive system Flashcards
Liver function (1)
Process nutrients in blood (ex: glucose)
Liver function (2)
Makes blood proteins
Liver function (3)
Stores fat-soluble vitamins
Liver function (4)
Metabolizes poisons and drugs
Liver function (5)
Produces bile
What are liver functions performed by?
Hepatocytes
What is bile made up of?
Cholesterol, bile salts, bilirubin
What are biles functions?
Excrete bilirubin, emulsify fat
Where do the vessels in your upper right abdomen connect?
On visceral side (posterior)
Hepatic veins
Carry blood away, back to heart
Porta hepatis
Region where other vessels connect to liver
Common hepatic duct
Carries bile OUT of liver
Hepatic arteries
Blood with oxygen FROM lungs INTO liver
Hepatic portal vein
Going INTO liver
Where do sugars and amino acids absorbed by blood capillaries go?
Directly into liver via hepatic portal vein
Where do lipids absorbed by lacteals of lymphatic system go?
Bypass liver and enter blood of veins near heart
Liver lobules
Hexagonal unit with plates of hepatocytes
What does each lobule contain?
Central vein, portal triad, liver sinusoids, and bile canaliculi
Central vein
Delivers blood to hepatic veins
Portal triad
Group of 3 vessels (portal arteriole, portal venule, bile duct)
Portal arteriole
Branch of hepatic artery that supplies oxygen to liver cells
Portal venule
Branch of hepatic portal vein that brings nutrients from digestive tract to storage and processing
Bile duct
Carries bile from hepatocytes out of liver
Liver sinusoids
Leaky capillaries that help blood get to central vein
How do liver sinusoids work?
Plasma flows onto hepatocytes by way of fenestrations and also contains hepatic macrophages
Bile canaliculi
Between hepatocytes (bile getting to bile duct)
Jaundice
Yellowing of the skin and mucosae
What causes jaundice?
Due to excess bilirubin through body tissues, liver failure, hepatitis
Pathway of blood (heart)
Heart to hepatic artery to portal arteriole to sinusoid to central vein to hepatic vein
Pathway of blood (intestines etc.)
Intestines etc. to hepatic portal vein to portal venule to sinusoid to central vein to hepatic vein
What surface of the liver is the gallbladder on?
Visceral/posterior surface
What are functions of the gallbladder?
Stores and concentrates bile, releases bile to duodenum when stimulated
Is the gallbladder essential for survival?
No
What is the pathway of bile flow in gallbladder in between meals?
Liver to bile ducts to common hepatic duct to common bile duct to cystic duct to gallbladder
What is the pathway of bile flow in gladder when stored bile is released to emulsify fats?
Gallbladder to cystic duct to common bile duct to duodenum
Gallstones
Mainly cholesterol crystals
What takes over the storage function if the gallbladder is removed?
Common bile duct
Where is the pancreas located?
Posterior to stomach
Pancreatic duct
Empties into lumen of duodenum
Pancreas function (1)
Exocrine secretions are released into lumen of duodenum
Which cells secrete most of the body’s digestive enzymes?
Acinar cells
What does the epithelium of small ducts do?
Secrete bicarbonate to neutralize stomach acid
Pancreas function (2)
Endocrine secretions are released into blood
What do pancreatic islet cells do?
Secrete insulin and glucagon
What are insulin and glucagon?
Hormones controlling storage of glucose and its release into the blood
Where is somewhere insulin and glucagon might do this?
Liver
