Liver and Gallbladder Flashcards
What is the liver and gallbladder associated with
Small intestine
Name the 4 functions of the liver in terms of digestive system
Production of bile, metabolises lipids which generates ATP, glucose storage for the body and detoxification
What does bile acts as
A detergent and fat emulsifier
What does bile assist in
Digestion and absorption of fats within the small intestine
What is bile produced by in the liver
The hepatocytes of the liver
How is the gallbladder related to the liver in terms of bile
Bile is collected by a network of ducts which drains into the gallbladder
Describe the gallbladder in terms of location and appearance
Small green sac with smooth muscle in its thin walls that snuggles up against the right lower surface of the liver
What purpose does the gallbladder serve
Concentrates and stores bile before released into the small intestine
What is the major stimulation for gallbladder contraction and why must the gallbladder contraction
Stimulation is cholecystokinin and the gallbladder must contract so that bile can enter to the small instestine
What is cholecystokinin
Instestinal hormone released when acidic fatty chyme enters the duodenum from the stomach
What is bile derived from
Cholesterol and cholic salts
High cholesterol can lead to formation of what
Gallstones (biliary calculi)
What is the main pigment of bile
Bilirubin
Bilirubin is formed from what
The waste product of heme formed during the break down of worn out red blood cells
Inflammation of the liver is what
Hepatitis
Inflammation of the gallbladder is what
Cholecysititis
Hepatitis and Cholecysititis can lead to a build up of bilirubin in the blood, this then leads to what
Jaundice
What is one of the breakdown products of bilirubin (once it has been metabolised in the small intestine)
Urobilinogen which gives poo the brown
What does the portal circulatory system do
Delivers blood directly from the small intestine to the liver
Portal hypertension is most often associated with what
Cirrhosis of the liver
Describe the liver histology
Composed of hexagonal lobules
Each lobule has what
Central vein with sheets of hepatocytes
At each point of the hexagon is a portal triad consisting of what
Arteriole, venule and a bile duct
Blood from the arteriole and venule passes down capillaries called what
Sinusoids
What are inside the sinusoids
Star shaped scavenger macrophages, kupffer cels
What do kupffer cells do
Remove debris and worn out blood cells from the blood as it flows past
The sheets of hepactocytes lining the sinusoids do what
Process blood borne nutrients, stor fat soluble vitamins, detoxify blood of toxins and wastes and produce bile
Hepatocytes secrete bile into what
Tiny canals called bile canaliculi
Where does bile canaliculi run
Between the hepatocytes towards the bile ducts of the portal triads
HVA and HVE are transmitted by what
Food or contaminated water
HVB and HVC are carried in what
Infected blood products or body fluids
HVD is what
Mutated virus that needs HVB to be infectious
Alcohol poisoned hepatocytes regenerate near the what faster that what
Near the portal triads than those near the central vein
However what generates faster than hepatocytes and this results in what
Fibrous scar tissue and so the liver becomes filled with yellowish fat and non functioning scar tissue and obstructs vital blood flow to the liver
