Liver Flashcards
Why does the Liver look brown?
As it contains lots of mitochondria
What is the name of the ligament that separates the 2 lobes of the liver?
Falciform ligament
What blood vessel does blood from the GI tract travel to the liver by?
Hepatic portal Vein
What blood vessel deliverers oxygenated blood to the liver?
Hepatic artery
What blood vessel leaves the liver to return to the heart?
Hepatic Vein
Where is bile stored?
Gall bladder
What hormone causes the release of bile from the gall bladder?
CCK
What is a portal system?
Where blood passes through 2 capillary sets before returning to the heart
Name 2 portal systems in the body
Hepatic portal system and hypothalamo-hypophyseal portal system
In the hepatic portal system, where is the first capillary bed found?
GI tract
What travels in the hepatic portal Vein?
Water, carbohydrates, proteins, hormones, electrolytes, toxins
Where is ammonia broken down?
Liver
What is ammonia broken down into?
Urea
What doesn’t travel in the portal system?
Lipids
How are lipids absorbed in the digestive system?
They are taken into cell and processed in chylomicrons. These are then taken up by lymphatic vessels called lacteals in microvilli
Give 4 functions of the liver
Storage, bile production, detoxification, metabolism
What molecules are produced in the liver
Plasma proteins(albumin), glycogen and coagulation factors
What is stored in the liver
Iron, vitamin A, vitamin B12, Vitamin D, vitamin K and glycogen
What is broken down in the liver?
Drugs, hormones, poisons and haemoglobin
What type of cells are present in the liver that have a phagocytic function?
Kupffer cells
Give an example of the exocrine function of the liver
Bile is produced and transported out via duct
Give an example of the endocrine function of the liver
It produces angiotensinogen and secretes it into the blood
What is the most common cell found in the liver
Hepatocytes
What is the function of hepatocytes?
Involved in bile production
What is a sinusoid?
A tubular space for the passage of blood from the hepatic portal Vein and hepatic artery to the hepatic Vein.
What is different about the endothelial cells lining the sinusoid?
There are large gaps between cells
What is the portal triad composed of?
Bile duct, hepatic portal Vein and hepatic artery
What is the liver acinus?
The functional unit of the liver
Where are stellate cells found?
In the space of disse
What do stellate cells contain?
Vitamin A granules
What affect does cirrhosis have on stellate cells?
Lose their ability to store vitamin A and then different into myofibroblasts and start depositing collagen. The collagen can surround the central Vein causing hypertension and fill the sinusoids.
Where are kupffer cells found?
Lining the sinusoids
