The Role of the Liver Essay

Submitted By brittanirundle
Words: 1459
Pages: 6
Open Document
The Role of the Liver
Can you live without your liver? Why or why not?
• You can, but I would say no more than a week max. The liver can loser a little over ¾ of it cells before it stops functioning, plus it is the only organ that can regenerate itself. The liver cleanses the blood of bacteria and foreign material. It is necessary for bile production which ultimately helps emulsify fats which fosters their absorption. The liver conjugates bilirubin with glucuronic acid which is excreted in the bile, without the liver bilirubin would stay unconjugated which when built up would be toxic to cells. It also has many metabolic functions such as helping to regulate blood glucose concentrations, rapid metabolism of fats; all nonessential amino acids are produced in the liver along with plasma proteins in the blood. It produces and removes blood clotting factors, detoxifies the blood, and stores, synthesizes, and transports various vitamins and minerals.
Briefly describe the blood flow to (into) the liver and from (out of) the liver. (This is an important thing to know in order to understand portal hypertension, make sure it’s correct.)
• There are two main blood vessels supplying the liver. The hepatic artery carries oxygenated blood from the aorta. The hepatic portal vein carries nutrient-rich deoxygenated blood from the stomach, intestines, spleen, and pancreas. In the liver, both the hepatic artery and hepatic portal vein branch off and surround each lobule. Each set of hepatic artery and hepatic portal vein branches connected to the hepatic vein via a blood vessel called a sinusoid which runs centrally through each liver lobule. The hepatic vein ultimately drains blood from the liver to the vena cava and general circulation.
What are the major functions of the liver?
• The liver performs over 400 vital functions.
• The liver cleanses the blood of bacteria, foreign material, hormones, drugs, and other poisonous substances are metabolized by the liver into inactive forms for excretion.
• It produces bile, which helps carry away waste and break down fats in the small intestine during digestion.
• It synthesizes fibrinogen(factor I), prothrombin(factor II) , and factors VII, IX, and X. It also removes active clotting factors from circulation and therefore regulates blood clotting.
• All nonessential amino acids are produced in the liver. Amino acids must be deaminated or cleared of ammonia to be used for energy by cells, or converted into carbs or fats.
• It produces all plasma proteins in the blood except gamma globulins.
• Production of cholesterol and special proteins to help carry fats through the body.
• Conversion of excess glucose into glycogen for storage, glycogen can later be converted back to glucose for energy. (Glycogenesis, Glycogenolysis, Gluconeogenesis)
• Processing of hemoglobin for use of its iron content.
Briefly discuss conjugated versus unconjugated bilirubin.
• Bilirubin is formed from the breakdown of hemoglobin by macrophages. It starts as indirect or unconjugated bilirubin which binds to albumin and is NOT water soluble and therefore cannot be excreted by the kidney in the urine. So, the liver fixes this by taking the unconjugated bilirubin and conjugates it with glucuronic acid to form direct or conjugated bilirubin, which IS water soluble. The conjugated bilirubin is secreted into bile and eventually excreted through the digestive system although some conjugated bilirubin returns to the blood and is reflected in the direct serum bilirubin level.

What is prothrombin time and what is its role in the body?
• Prothrombin is a glycoprotein formed by and stored in the liver. The prothrombin time test specifically evaluated the presence of factors VII, V, X, prothrombin, and fibrinogen by counting in seconds how long the liquid part of blood or plasma takes to clot. Normal PT. time is 11-16. Any drop in any of these clotting factors or blood thinning medications will make this time longer.
Show More

Related Documents: The Role of the Liver Essay

Pancreas Research Paper

As with a pancreatic lobule, the lobule of the liver is roughly hexagonal in shape, with portal triads at the vertices and a central vein in the middle. Connective tissue sheets divide the liver into thousands of these lobules ‘units ‘. The functional cells of the liver are hepatocytes. Hepatocytes play a number of roles within the body in metabolism and secretion. The polygonal liver hepatocyte possesses a central nucleus, a granular cytoplasm, with clearly outlined…

Words 1429 - Pages 6

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (Nafld)

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) | Symptoms, Causes and Treatment | Amy Kay | In current times, childhood and adult obesity is on the rise. Obesity poses a risk on many levels and one in particular is a disease called NAFLD or also known as Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. This disease tends to develop in overweight or obese people or those with diabetes and is caused by extra fat building up in the liver cells. NAFLD is one cause of fatty liver and happens when fat is deposited…

Words 1519 - Pages 7

Sorafenib (TZD): A Case Study

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is used to ablate dysfunctional tissue using heat generated from a high frequency alternating current. Liver transplantation is the last line treatment but has significant drawbacks in the number of compatible livers available as well as the use of immunosuppressive drugs that may cause tumors to relapse.…

Words 1382 - Pages 6

Ultrasonography Case Study

sensitive in detecting cystic lesions of liver, which helps in Detecting various lesions, along with the internal structures of the body. One gets an opportunity to evaluate additional information of other abdominal organs, that can modify the course of treatment and prognosis of patient. Aim: To evaluate the Demographic Variables, Symptomatology Ultrasonographic features and the Diagnostic Accuracy, with the help of Ultrasonography, in evaluating Cystic Lesions of liver. Material and Method: The study…

Words 1127 - Pages 5

An Experimental and Statistical Analysis of Sdh Activity as Compared in Liver, Kidney, and Heart Homogenates of the Bos Taurus Essay

Jeffrey Shenfeld An Experimental and Statistical Analysis of SDH activity as compared in Liver, Kidney, and Heart Homogenates of the Bos taurus Methods The three tissues being analyzed in this experiment, those of the kidney, heart and liver, were taken from the animal Bos taurus. The tissue homogenates used were made by adding 1 gram of tissue to 20 ml of sucrose phosphate buffer. The buffer was composed of 250 mM sucrose, 50 mM NaPO4, with a pH of 7.4. This mixture was homogenized with…

Words 2349 - Pages 10

Essay on The Liver

The Liver The Liver The liver is an incredible and necessary asset to the human body. It is the largest visceral organ in the body, weighs approximately 3 kilograms and holds about a pint of blood. It works alone or in conjunction with other organs such as the gallbladder or the pancreas to provide critical processes needed for life. As an accessory organ, the liver produces bile and then partners with the gallbladder for its storage. Bile is needed to carry waste and the breakdown…

Words 630 - Pages 3

Discuss 5 Hormones In Research

Essay 5: Discuss 5 hormones that play a role in the regulation of glucose metabolism during exercise. Discuss each hormone and it's action in regulating blood glucose. Discuss the difference in glucose regulation during short-duration and long-duration exercise. Five hormones that play a role in regulation of glucose metabolism during exercise are insulin, glucagon, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol. The first hormone I will discuss is insulin, which is secreted from beta cells in the pancreas…

Words 541 - Pages 3

Digestion and Essential Nutrients Essay example

our diet either fat-soluble or water-soluble; vitamin D is essential for absorbing calcium into the bloodstream; deficiency leads to bone and muscle getting weak Minerals - nonorganic molecules required in small amounts which play a variety of roles in body functioning Explain the difference between vitamins and minerals, and know the function of minerals examples mentioned in class. Vitamins are organic, minerals are inorganic Distinguish between water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins…

Words 1859 - Pages 8

Mary the Nursing Student Essays

digestive system. Discuss changes in blood flow to the digestive tract and the digestive functions of the organ affected. How will Mary’s stool appear? Since Mary is into stage IV of HCV she is facing total liver failure. If her liver fails to work then many things could happen. The liver functions to feed bile droplets into the intestines filled with bile salts,…

Words 1826 - Pages 8

Wade Moore Case Study

suffering from Cirrhosis of the liver because of choices he made earlier in life such as intravenous drug use. B. List the names of the three symptoms that Wade is experiencing that helped you come to this conclusion and what their effects are. The first symptom that was seen in Wade was hepatic encephalopathy which is what caused his confusion, forgetfulness, and altered personality. The yellow tint to Wade’s skin can be attributed to jaundice because of impaired liver functioning. Finally, ascites…

Words 834 - Pages 4