Human Liver:
Apart from the skin, the liver is the largest visceral organ of the body. It is also the largest gland of the body. It is a deep brown colored triangular organ situated just below the diaphragm in the right side of the stomach. The average weight of the liver of adult man is 1500 grams. The liver consists of four lobes. The right lobe is the largest. Beneath this lobe the sac like gall bladder is attached. The bile secreted by the liver is deposited in the gall bladder. The bile comes to duodenum through the common bite duct.The functional unit hepatocyte. Each lobule has a diameter of about 1 mm. Between the of the liver is known as lobule. The cells of the liver is called.lobules branches are of hepatic artery,
hepatic portal vein and bile duct. At the center of each lobule is a branch of the hepatic vein which is
connected to the hepatic artery and hepatic portal vein by blood.
Functions of Liver:
Liver's function is extensive. Different types of biochemical reactions take place liver, so it is alscl called the organic laboratory or chemical workshop. Some functions of liver are as follows:
Storage functions:
ii. Storage of glycogen: Glucose is taken to the liver in the hepatic portal vein. If the concentration of glucose in the blood rises above 0.1% by weight, the excess is converted to glycogen under the control of insulin, a honnone produced by the pancreas. The conversion of slucose to glycogen is
called glycogenesis.
ii. The production and storage of bile: The liver produces bile salts and adds to them the bile pigment bilirubin from the breakdown of red bloocl cells. With sodiumchloride and sodium hydrogen carbonate, cholesterol and water, this forms the greenyellow fluid known as bile. Upto 1 dm3 of bile may be produced daily. It is temporarily stored in the gall bladder before being discharged in the gall hladder. It is used to emulsify fats before their digestion by lipase in the duodenum.
iii. Storage of vitamins: The liver r,vill store a flumber of vitarnins which can later be released if deficient in the diet. It stores mainly the tat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, although the water
soluble vitamin B and C can also stored.
iv. Storage of minerals: The liver stores minerals, e.g. iron,, potassium, copper and zrflc. It is the liver's stores of these minerals, along with vitamins, w'hich makes it such l nutritious food.
v. Storage of blood: The liver, with its vast complex of blood vessels, forms a large store of blood with a capacity of up to 1500 cm3. In the event of haemorrhage, constriction of these vessels forces blood into the general circulation to raplace that lost and so helps to maintain blood pressure. In stressful situations, adrenaline also causes constriction of these vessels, creating a rise in blood pressure.
Metabolic functions:
Carbohydrate metabolism: Liver performs the following metabolic functions related to carbohydrate
metabolism:
A. When the level of blood sugar (glucose) falls below its normal level, the glycogen isreconverted into glucose, a process called glycogenolysis, under the control of hormone adrenaline (produced by the adrenal glands) and hormone glucagon (produced by the pancreas).
B. Muscles also break down glycogen if it needs glucose for its own respiration, in which case the glycogen is converted to glucose phosphate,, but is then converted to pyruvate (glycolysis) which is used to produce ATP during aerobic or anaerobic respiration. Lactic acid (lactate) produced by anaerobic respiration in skeletal muscle can be converted later into glucose and hence glycogen in the liver.
C. When the demand for glucose has exhausted the glycogen store in the liver, glucose can be synthesised from non-carbohydrate sources by the process called gluconeogenesis.
D. Carbohydrate in the body which can not be used or stored as glycogen is converted into fats and stored.
ii. Fat metabolism: The liver performs the following functions ralated to fat metabolism:
A. The liver can break down fats into fatty acids and glycerol for respiration if glucose is in short supply. Fatty acids are coverted to acetyl groups which combine with coenzyme A to form acetyl coenzyme A. This enters Kreb's cycle for oxidation and produce energy.
B. The liver converts excess carbohydrate to fat.
C. Removes cholesterol from the blood and breaking it down or, when necessary, synthesising it.
D. Desaturation of fats: Fats are stored in the body in saturated form. This means that they cannot
take any more hydrogen into their composition. Before saturated fats can be used by the tissues ofthe body, the hydrogen must be removed, and this occurs in the liver. The resultant unsaturated fats can be used to provide .
iii. Protein metabolism: The liver performs the following important functions related to proteion metabolism:
A. Formation of urea: Amino acids are taken to the liver in the hepatic portal vein. Those that are in excess of the body's needs cannot be stored. The nitrogen-containing part of the amino acids is removed and changed to urea. The process is sometimes referred to as deamination.
B. Transamination: The systhesis of amino acids by the transfer of amino group from an amino acid to another organic acid is called transamination. Transamination is the means of producing amino acids which are deficient in the diet. The essential amino acids (8 in number: valine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, threonine) can not be synthesised by transamination in the live and must be obtained from the diet.
C. Plasma protein production: Plasma proteins, albumin, globulin, fibrinogen and prothrombin are vital components of plasma and the majority of thern are synthesised from amino acids ion the liver.
iv. Formation and breakdown of red blood cells: The fetus relies solely on the liver for the production of red blood cells. In an adult, this role is transferred to the bone malTow.
v. Breakdown of haemoglobin of red blood cells: The adult liver, however, continues to break down red blood cells at the end of their 120-day life span. The phagocytic macrophage cells that is, Kupffer cells lining the sinusoids carry out this breakdor.vn.The haemoglobin they contain is broken clown into haem and globin. Globin is the protein part of the molecule and is broken down to its individual amino acids. The iron is removed from haem and the remaining part of the molecule forms a green pigment called biliverdin which is converted to bilirubin, yellow in colour and a component of bile. The accumulation of bilirubin in the blood is a symptom of liver disease and produces a yellowing of the skin, a condition known as jaudice. The iron is either stored in the liver cells as a compound called ferritin or used in ttie formation of new red blood cells by the bone maffow. The liver produces haematinic principle, a substance needed in the formation of red blood celis.Vitamin Bn deficiency results in pernicious anaemia.
xi.Hormone breakdown: To varying degrees, the liver breaks down all hormones. Some, such as testosterone, are rapidly broken down whereas otheres, like insulin, are destroyed more slowly.
xii.Detoxification: The liver is ideally situated to remove, or render harmless, toxic material absorbed by the intestines. Foreign organisms or material are ingested by the Kupffer cells while toxic chemicals are made safe by chemical conversions within hepatocytes. Alcohol and nicotine are two substances dealt with in this way.
xiii.Production of heat: The liver, with its considerabie metabolic activity, can be used to produce heat in order to comb at a fall in body temperature. This reaction, triggered by the hypothalamus, is in response to adrenaline, thyroxine and nervous stimulaion. Whether the liver's activities produce excess heat under ordinary circumstances is a matter of some debate.
xiv.Cholesterol Production: The liver produces cholesterol and production of cholesterol is the begining of the sysnthesis of other steroid molecules.The major source of cholesterol is the diet, and
many dairy products are rich in cholesterol or fatty acids from whichcholesterol can be systhesised.