Liver and gall bladder Flashcards
Where are the liver and gall bladder found?
In the upper right quadrant of the abdomen, directly beneath the diaphragm.
What are the two lobes of the liver?
The large right lobe and smaller left lobe.
What does the liver produce?
Bile that facilitates digestion of lipids.
Where is bile concentrated and stored?
In the gall bladder.
What is another function of the liver?
The blood that has flowed through the intestines is now full of amino acids and monosaccharides as well as any poisons and toxins that may have been absorbed. Before it can be returned to the heart and lungs, this blood is filtered by the liver to remove, process and if necessary excrete or store absorbed molecules.
Where does blood from the capillaries of the intestine drain to?
Into the mesenteric veins, which join to form the portal vein.
What does the portal vein do?
It carries deoxygenated blood full of absorbed molecules from the intestines to the liver.
How is the liver supplied by oxygen?
By the hepatic artery which originates in the abdominal aorta.
What are hepatocytes?
Liver epithelial cells that are arranged to form a 3D lattice.
What are sinusoids?
In the liver, sinusoids run between each layer of hepatocytes, allowing close contact between the hepatocytes and the portal blood supply.
How are the products of hepatocyte function removed?
Via small channels between cells, called canaliculi. The canaliculi then drains into the bile ducts.
How does bile drain from the liver?
Via the right and left hepatic ducts which join to form the common hepatic duct.
What is the common hepatic duct joined by?
The cystic duct that drains bile from the gallbladder.
What happens to bile from the hepatic duct?
It can travel up the cystic duct to be stored in the gallbladder or carry on to the descending duodenum.
What does the presence of food in the duodenum do?
It stimulates the gallbladder to contract. Bile travels down the cystic duct to the common bile duct and then to the duodenum. All of these ducts combine to form the biliary tract.
