Organ Specific Metabolism Flashcards
Explain the function of the liver.
Service organ.
Provides fuel for brain, muscle, and other organs.
Maintenance of blood glucose levels.
Most compounds absorbed by intestine first pass through the liver which regulates the metabolite concentration in the blood.
Set up to push fuel into blood for transport to other organs.
Urea cycle and bile salt production occur in what organ?
Liver
What metabolic pathways in hepatic cells contribute to the regulation of blood glucose levels?
Glycogenesis, glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis.
Where are the bulk of lipoproteins synthesized?
Liver
Large quantities of cholesterol and phospholipids are synthesized where?
Liver.
The liver is a major site for converting excess carbohydrates and proteins into ______ & ______.
Fatty acids & triglyceride
What are the most critical aspects of protein metabolism in the liver?
Deamination and transamination of amino acids, followed by the conversion of the non-nitrogenous part of those molecules to be converted to glucose or lipids.
Removal of ammonia from the body by synthesis of urea.
Synthesis of non-essential amino acids.
Synthesis of most of the plasma-proteins (Albumin, clotting factors for blood coagulation).
What are some major substrates used by the liver?
Free fatty acids, glucose (high concentrations), lactate, glycerol, amino acids.
List some major products produced by the liver.
VLDL, HDL, urea, uric acid.
What some of the liver’s specialty enzymes?
Glucokinase, glucose-6-phosphatase, glycerolkinase, PEPCK, arginase, HMG-CoA synthase, HMG-CoA lyase.
What are the major pathways that take place in the brain?
Glycolysis and amino acid metabolism.
What are the major substrates used by brain cells?
Glucose, amino acids, and ketone bodies.
True or False: The brain can metabolically produce lactate.
True.
The brain produces its own lactate from the metabolism of glycogen and tends to export lactate at rest.
Lactate is brought into the brain across the BBB to be used as fuel when plasma lactate is high or plasma glucose is low.
Circulation is a major function of what organ?
The heart.
What metabolic pathways take place in the heart?
Aerobic pathways and amino acid metabolism.
