teach me physiology - liver Flashcards
bilirubin is produced from what?
breakdown of RBCs = haemolysis
what are the 2 forms bilirubin exists in?
- conjugated (water soluble - can travel in blood without a transport protien bound to it and can be excreted from the body)
- unconjugated (insoluble in water - can only travel in bloodstream bound to albumin and it cannot be directly excreted from the body)
what are reticuloendothelial cells? what do they do?
macrophages response for the maintenance of the blood, throguh the destruction of old or abnormal cells. they take up RBCs and metabolise the Hb into haem and globin
what is globin further broken down into?
amino acids which are then recycled
what is haem broken down into? what is this catalysed by?
iron and biliverdin = catalysed by haem oxygenase
what happens to the breakdown products of haem?
- iron — recycled
- biliverdin — reduced to create unconjugated bilirubin
what enzyme is used in the biliverdin to bilirubin reaction?
biliverdin reductase
what does unconjugated bilirubin bind to to facilitate its transport to the liver?
albumin
how does unconjugated bilirubin enter the liver?
OATP = organic anion transporting peptide
what happens to the unconjugated bilirubin once in the liver?
glucaronic acid is added to bilirubin by glucuronyl transferase — forms conjugated bilirubin = soluble
conjugated bilirubin is soluble. what does this allow?
allows it to be excreted into the duodenum in bile
via what is bilirubin excreted from the liver?
MRP2 = multi drug resistance-associated protein 2
what happens to bilirubin once in ht e colon?
colonic bacteria deconjuagte bilirubin and convert it into urobilinogen
what happens to 80% of urobilinogen?
further oxidised by intestinal bacteria and converted to stercobilin and then excreted through faeces
what happens to 20% of urobilinogen?
- absorbed into the bloodstream as part of the enterohepatic circulation — it is carried to the liver where some is recycled for bile production, while a small % reaches the kidneys
- here it is oxidised further into urobilin and then excreted into urine
what gives faeces its brown colour and urine its yellow colour?
brown = stercobilin
yellow = urobilin
the liver plays a central role in maintaining steady blood glucose levels by converting excess glucose into glycogen through a process known as _________
glycogenesis
when there is bodily demand for glucose, the glycogen can be converted back into glucose through a process known as ___________
glycogenolysis.
80% of the monosaccharide load absorbed by the SI is comprised of glucose, which is then delivered to the hepatocytes by the what?
portal vein
fructose and galactose are also absorbed by the SI. what happens to the vast majority?
immediately converted into glucose in the liver
describe glycogenesis steps
glucose —> glucose-6-P —> glucose-1-P —> UDP-glucose —> added to the long glycogen chain within the liver cells —> glycogen
what enzyme converts glucose to glucose-6-phosphate in glycogenesis?
hexokinase (skeletal muscle) / glucokinase (liver)
what enzyme converts glucose-6-P to glucose-1-P to UDO-glucose?
glucose-6-P —> glucose-1-P = phosphoglucomutase
glucose-1-P —> UDP-glucose = uridyl transferase
glycogensis: finally UDP-glucose is added to the long glycogen chain within the liver cells by ____________, with assistance from ____________
- glycogen synthase
- branching enzyme
what is Von Gierke disease?
glucose-6-phosphatase deficiency — body cant break down glycogen
what is Cori Disease?
glycogen debranching enzyme deficiency
through glycogenolysis, what are yielded from their storage in glycogen?
glucose and glucose-6-phosphate
where does glycogenolysis occur?
within the cytosol of the liver and also within the cytosol of skeletal muscle
describe the process of glycogenolysis
• the sequence of reactions differs from glycogenesis and is not simply the reverse of it
- firstly, a molecule of glucose is phosphorylated to remove it from the glycogen chain by glycogen phosphorylase (assisted by de branching enzyme) creating glucose-1-phosphate
- glucose-1-phosphate is converted to glucose-6-phosphate by phosphoglucomutase
- glucose-6-P is converted to glucose by glucose-6-phosphatatase
in glycogenolysis, glucose-6-P can become glucose or it can also do what?
enter the glycolysis pathway, which culminates int he formation of pyruvate
the freed glucose is now ready for transport to other tissues where it will undergo glycolysis to produce __________, which is then converted into __________ before entering the __________
the freed glucose is now ready for transport to other tissues where it will undergo glycolysis to produce pyruvate, which is then converted into acetyl-coA before entering the TCA cycle
how does metabolism of glycogen differ between skeletal muscle and the liver?
in the skeletal muscle, glucokinase predominates in place of hexokinase during the first steps of glycogenesis
what us the key regulatory enzyme in glycogenesis?
glycogen synthase
glycogen synthase activity is upregulated by high levels of what?
glucose-6-phosphate
what is the key regulatory enzyme in glycogenolysis?
glycogen phosphorylase
what is glycogen phosphorylase allosterically inhibited by?
high levels of ATP, glucose-6-P and glucose
what act via 2nd messengers to control the rate and direction of glycogen metabolism?
glucagon, adrenaline and insulin
how do glucagon and adrenaline influence glycogen synthase and glycogen phosphorylase?
- upregulate adenylate cyclase — converts ATP into cAMP
- activates cAMP-dependent protein kinase
- phosphorylates glycogen synthase and glucose phosphorylase
- phosphorylation leads to deactivation of glycogen synthase and activation of glycogen phosphorylase
when are glucagon and adrenaline released?
- released as part of the sympathetic response to stress, adn therefore it follows that the body will need more glucose at this point
- therefore when we need less glycogen (deactivation of synthase) and more free glucose (activation of phosphorylase)
what do patients with Von Gierkes disease present with?
lactic acidosis, hypoglycaemia, hyperuricaemia and hepatic enlargement
what is gluconeogenesis?
= a metabolic pathway that results in the generation of glucose from non-carbohydrate substrates such as lactate, glycerol and glucogenic amino acids
when does gluconeogenesis occur?
around 8 hours of fasting, when liver glycogen stores start to deplete and an alternative source of glucose is required
where does gluconeogenesis occur?
mainly in liver and to a lesser extent in the cortex of the kidney
what are the 3 main gluconeogenesis precursors?
- lactate from anaerobic glycolysis in exercising muscle and RBCs via the cori cycle
- glycerol released from the breakdown of triglycerides in adipose tissue
- amino acids (mainly alanine)
gluconeogenesis vs glycolysis
what hormonal control stimulates gluconeogenesis?
stress hormones such as glucagon or cortisol upregulate PEP carboxykinase and fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase in order to stimulate gluconeogenesis