Liver Biochemistry Flashcards
Largest solid organ in the body?
Liver
What is the blood supply to the liver and percentage of each supply?
75% = portal vein 25% = hepatic artery
What does the portal vein bring to the liver?
Nutrient rich blood
What does the hepatic artery bring to the liver?
Oxygen rich blood
The portal vein and hepatic artery mix in sinusoids. How does the blood leave the liver?
Inferior vena cava
How does bile leave the liver?
Flows out through the bile duct
6 liver cell types
Hepatocytes Endothelial cells Kupffer cells Stellate cells Pit cells Cholangiocytes
Job of hepatocytes?
Carry out most metabolic functions = main cell
Where will you find endothelial cells?
Lining the sinusoids
Describe endothelial cells that line sinusoids in the liver
Have fenestrations (pores) to allow for material exchange between hepatocytes and blood
Where will you find Kupffer cells?
Lining the sinusoids
Job of Kupffer cells?
They are macrophages that protect the liver from toxins via phagocytosis and remove dead RBCs
- contain lots of lysosomes
Job of Stellate (Ito) cells?
Storage of vitamin A and regulates contractility of sinusoids
During liver cirrhosis, what cell type can negatively impact liver function by producing fibril-producing collagen?
Stellate cells
Job of Pit cells?
Natural killer cells in the liver that defend against toxins
Where will you find cholangiocytes?
Lining the bile ducts in the liver
Job of cholangiocytes?
Control the bile flow rate and pH
Overall function of the liver?
Primary receiving, distributing and recycling center
The liver is important in many functions of metabolism. List some
Carbohydrate (glucose) metabolism
Lipid metabolism (creates TAGs, bile acids, bile salts and ketones)
Synthesis of blood proteins
How does liver manage waste?
Inactivation, detoxification and transformation of metabolites
What allows for greater access and increased contact between the liver cells and the blood?
Fenestrations and lack of tight junctions in the sinusoidal epithelium
3 main things that bile is made up of?
Cholesterol
Bile acids
Bile salts
What are bile acids and bile salts synthesized from?
Hepatic cholesterol
Pathway for bile?
- Made in hepatocytes
- Travel to bile canaliculi
- Travel through bile ducts to gallbladder where they are stored
- Released to duodenum in response to food
Bile acids are?
Protonated form
Bile salts are?
Deprotonated form
Do bile acids or bile salts do the emulsification of fats?
Bile salts
Describe the process bile salts take for the emulsification of fats
Bile acid ionizes to conjugate bile salt
- Hydrophobic surface associates with TAG
- Multiple of these join to form a micelle (aggregate)
- Hydrophilic surface faces outward to associate with pancreatic lipases
- Pancreatic lipases digest fatty acids so they can be absorbed in intestinal mucosa