Liver Failure and Jaundice Flashcards
What is xenobiotic?
Foreign substance
What percentage of bile is water?
97%
What are the roles of bile?
- Cholesterol homeostasis
- Dietary lipid/vitamin absorption
- Removal of xenobiotics/drugs/endogenous waste product.
- E.g. cholesterol metabolites, hormones etc.
How much bile is produced daily and what % from where?
500ml
60% from hepatocytes
40% from cholangiocytes (biliary epithelial cells in biliary tree)
What are the roles of the biliary tree?
- Alter pH, fluidity and modifies bile
- Facilitates passage of H2O into the bile via osmosis (through paracellular junctions)
- Reabsorbs glucose and some organic acids
- Secretes HCO3- and Cl- into the bile through CFTR
- Cholangiocytes contribute IgA antibodies into mucosa
What is bile flow related to?
What is involved in secreting bile salts?
What happens when they fail?
- Bile flow is closely related to the concentrations of bile acids and salts in the blood
- Apical transporters on hepatocytes and cholangiocytes secrete the bile salts and toxins which also govern flow rate of bile
- If these transporters stop then you get cholestasis
What are some examples of biliary transporters?
BSEP – Bile Salt Excretory Pump
MDR related proteins - MRP1, MRP3
Products of the familial intraheptic cholestestasis gene - FIC1
Prodcuts of the mutlifrug resistance gene - MDR1, MDR3
Genetic mutations can occur in these genes and cause cholestasis
What do BSEP, MDR1 and MDR3 do?
MDR1 – mediates canalicular excretion of xenobiotics and cytotoxins
MDR3 – Encodes a phospholipid transporter protein to translocate phosphatidlycholine to from inner to outer leaflet of canalicular membrane
BSEP - Active transport of bile acids across heptocyte cancalicular membranes into bile
Bile salts/bile acids and their synthesis and how many are there?
- Na and K salts of bile acids conjugates to glycine/taurine
- Bile acids are synthesised from cholesterol
- There are 4 bile acids in humans
What are the 2 primary and secondary bile acids?
cholic acid -> deoxycholic acid (secondary)
chenodeoxycholic acid -> litocholic acid ( secondary)
How are primary bile acids converted to secondary bile acids?
By colonic bacteria
What are the functions of bile salts?
- reduces surface tension of fats
- emulsify fats
Why can bile salts form micelles?
Because they are amphiphatic - have hydrophilic and hydrophobic face
Cholesterol and fatty acids are inside
Bile salt toxicity
Detergent like actions of bile salts means they can be toxic at high concentrations by irritating the gut and cause diarrhoea
Bilary tree
What do the cystic duct and common hepatic duct join to form?
The bile in the right hepatic lobe drains into the right hepatic duct
The bile in the left hepatic lobe into the left hepatic duct
The two ducts join at hilum just outside the liver to form common hepatic duct
The cystic duct from the gallbladder and common hepatic duct join to form the common bile duct.
Sphincter of Oddi
At the ampulla of the bile duct, the sphincter of Oddi controls bile secretion into the 2nd duodenum
When we are not eating the sphincter is closed and duodenal orifice is closed so bile is diverted into the gallbladder to be stored.
What does CKK do when you have eaten?
- Relax the sphincter of Oddi so the duodenal orifice is opened
- Contract the smooth muscle around gall bladder
This means bile is forced into the duodenum
Enterohepatic circulation of bile salts - between small intestine and liver
- 95% of bile salts reabsorbed in the terminal ileum by Na+/bile-salt co-transport
- 5% are converted to secondary bile acids in the colon by colonic bacteria:
Deoxycholate absorbed, lithocholate excreted in stool (99% of it) - Reabsorbed salts go via the portal veins, back to the liver to be re-excreted in bile
What effect will terminal ileum disease/removal have?
What happens if bile cannot enter the gut?
Less resorption = more fatty stool as less bile salt excreted (liver cannot sustain production)
Malabsorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K).