Liver

Question 1

Liver function

Answer 1

Metabolism - material absorbed from GIT

• storage of glycogen
• release of glucose (glucagon from pancreas effects to do so via turning glycogen into glucose in liver)

Protein synth
Inactivation of hormones/drugs
Excretes waste and produces bile
Produced blood clotting factors ( so need to know related diseases as surgery or extraction in the mouth need to know consequences to these on blood clotting)

Question 2

Liver structure

Answer 2

4 lobes - right (and right lobe proper) and left lobe

• caudate lobe
• quadrate lobe

Falciform ligament
Round ligament
Hepatic artery, hepatic portal vein, inferior vena cava
Gall bladder
Common hepatic duct (formed from R and L hepatic ducts)
Cystic duct (joins to ^)
Common bile duct (the two above combined)
Pancreatic duct

Question 3

Liver process of producing bile

Answer 3

Biliary system - hepatocytes ( liver cells ) produce bile, stored and conc. in gall bladder

Question 4

Bile contents

Answer 4

Bile salts - lipid emulsifiers

Waste products ie. bile pigments (bilirubin)

Question 5

Hepatic portal vein function

Answer 5

Drains unpaired abdominal organs - almost all GIT material absorbed into and passed through liver being processed

Question 6

How liver functions

Answer 6

Blood from hepatic artery and portal vein flow past hepatocytes in large capillaries (sinusoids - low pressure vascular channels)
Sinusoids drain to the hepatic veins and then inferior vena cava
Bile flows in opposite direction

Question 7

Sinusoids structure

Answer 7

Hepatic lobule - portal triad, portal vein in centre, hepatocytes arranged in linear cords between capillary network alongside bile canaliculus tubes collecting bile released from hepatocytes

Question 8

Liver issues

Answer 8

Hepatomegaly
Cirrhosis
Viral hepatitis
Obstructive jaundice
Hepatic carcinoma