Session 6 - Physiology of the liver, biliary tree and pancreas Flashcards
What are the key properties of chyme leaving the stomach?
- Acid
- Hyper tonic
- Partially digested
Where is chyme secreted into?
The duodenum
How is acidity regulated and corrected?
Acidity corrected by HCO3- secreted from pancreas, liver and duodenal mucosa
How is hypertonicity regulated and corrected?
• Hypertonicity corrected by osmotic movement of water across duodenal wall
How is digestion completed in the small intestine?
- Digestion completed by enzymes from pancreas and small intestinal mucosa
- Bile acids from liver
What is Bile made up of?
• Bile acid dependent and bile acid independent
Where is bile acid dependent portion of bile acid secreted from?
• Cells lining canaliculi
Outline the constituent part of bile acid dependent
• Bile acids (salts) - Cholic acid/chenodeoxycholic acid
○ Bile salts conjugated to amino acids, travelling as micelles in biles. Play a major role in digestion and absorption of fats
• Cholesterol
• Bile pigments (majority is bilirubin)
Where is the bile acid independent portion of bile acid secreted from?
• Intrahepatic bile duct
What is the bile acid independent portion of bile?
• Alkaline juice (HCO3-), like that from pancreatic duct cells
What is the basic functional unit of the liver?
• A lobule surrounding a central vein, which drains blood from the liver to the systemic veins
Outline course of blood through liver
Blood from hepatic portal vein and arteries enter vessels at the periphery of the lobule and flow through sinusoids lined by hepatocytes to the central vein
Where is bile formed in the liver?
• Canaliculi, flow towards periphery in bile ducts
What happens after gastric emptying?
- The duodenum secretes cholecystoinin
- This stimulates contraction of the gall bladder, ejecting concentrated bile acids together with enzymes from the pancreas
- Alkali from the pancreas and liver is also released in response to secretin
Outline the path of bile through the body
- Bile acids are released through the ampulla of vater and aid with the digestion of fats.
- They continue to the terminal ileum where actively absorbed by the epithelium
Venous return from the gut enters hepatic portal blood, where hepatocytes actively take up bile acids and re-secrete them into canaliculi
How come not all bile acids are reabsorbed?
• Some are unconjugated from amino acids through the action of gut bacteria and are lost
Hepatocytes subsequently replace them
Where do bile acids return to when they are not needed?
- Gall bladder
* Secreted by canaliculi wall cells a long time before they’re needed
How is the volume of bile acids which need to be stored reduced?
• Concentrated by transport of salt and water across the gall bladder epithelium
What does the concentration process of bile acids lead to?
• Gall stones
What can gall stones cause in the body?
- Move into biliary tree, causing biliary colic
* Obstruction causes inflammation (cholecystitis) and infection of the gall bladder
Why is pain from gall stones worse after eating?
Due to the release of CCK, which causes gall bladder to contract
Name 4 things secreted from pancreas?
- Amylases
- Lipases
- Proteases
- Alkaline juice