Liver structure and function

Question 1

Where is the liver located?

Answer 1

Upper right quadrant of abdomen

Question 2

What are the 2 major lobes of the liver?

Answer 2

Right and left

Question 3

What are the 2 minor lobes of the liver?

Answer 3

Quadrate

Caudate

Question 4

What lobe is superior, caudate or quadrate?

Answer 4

Caudate

Question 5

What vessels are present at the porta?

Answer 5

Hepatic portal vein
Hepatic artery
Lymphatic vessels
R and L hepatic ducts
Hepatic nerve plexus

Question 6

Where is the porta located?

Answer 6

Inferior surface of liver

Question 7

What forms the common hepatic duct?

Answer 7

R and L hepatic ducts

Question 8

What forms the common bile duct?

Answer 8

Common hepatic duct and cystic duct from gallbladder

Question 9

How and where does the common bile duct enter the intestinal system?

Answer 9

Duodenum via the sphincter of Oddi

Question 10

What covers the liver?

Answer 10

Connective tissue capsule and visceral peritoneum, except for the bare area

Question 11

What is the bare area bare?

Answer 11

Small area on diaphragmatic surface surrounded by coronary ligament not covered

Question 12

What does the capsule form at the porta?

Answer 12

Branching network of septa into the body of the liver for support

Question 13

What happen to the septa in the liver?

Answer 13

Followed in by vessels, ducts and nerves before dividing the liver into hexagonal lobules

Question 14

What is in the portal triad?

Answer 14

Hepatic portal venule
Hepatic arteriole
Hepatic duct
Also contains nerves and lymphatic vessels

Question 15

Where is the portal triad located?

Answer 15

At each corner of the hexagonal lobule

Question 16

What is in the centre of each lobule?

Answer 16

Central vein

Question 17

What do central veins form?

Answer 17

Hepatic veins then IVC

Question 18

What are hepatic cords?

Answer 18

Cords of hepatocytes spreading out from the central vein separated by sinusoids

Question 19

What are sinusoids?

Answer 19

Blood channels travelling from portal venues to the central vein with a fenestrated membrane and epithelium

Question 20

What lies between the cells in each hepatic cord?

Answer 20

Bile canaliculus

Question 21

What are bile canaliculus?

Answer 21

Cleft like lumen running between hepatocytes that hepatocytes put their secretions into

Question 22

What ar the 6 components of bile?

Answer 22

Bile acids
Lecithin
Cholesterol
Bile pigments
Toxic metals
Bicarbonate

Question 23

What is the function of bile acids, lecithin and cholesterol in bile?

Answer 23

Solubilise fat

Question 24

What is the main bile pigment in bile?

Answer 24

Billirubin

Gives bile yellow colour

Question 25

What is the function of bicarbonate in the bile?

Answer 25

Neutralisation of acid chyme

Question 26

What secretes the components of bile?

Answer 26

All except bicarbonate secreted by hepatocytes | Bicarbonate secreted by duct cells

Question 27

What are bile pigments?

Answer 27

Breakdown products of haemoglobin from old/damaged erythrocytes

Question 28

What is bilirubin?

Answer 28

Dominant bile pigment

Question 29

What is bilirubin present in?

Answer 29

Bile, faeces, urine

Question 30

How does bilirubin give bile its colour?

Answer 30

Extracted from blood by hepatocytes and secreted into bile

Question 31

How does bilirubin give faeces its colour?

Answer 31

Modified by bacterial enzymes to brown pigments

Question 32

How does bilirubin give urine its colour?

Answer 32

Reabsorbed bilirubin excreted in urine

Question 33

How are bile acids made?

Answer 33

Synthesised in hepatocytes from cholesterol

Question 34

How much bile acid to we make a day and how much do we have stored?

Answer 34

0.5g | 5g

Question 35

What happens to bile acids before secretion?

Answer 35

Conjugated with glycine or taurine to form bile salts to increase

Question 36

What happens to secreted bile salts?

Answer 36

Recycled via enterohepatic circulation

Question 37

How big is the gallbladder?

Answer 37

8x4cm

Question 38

What are the layers of the gallbladder wall?

Answer 38

Mucosa Muscularis externa Serosa

Question 39

What is present in the mucosa of the gallbladder>

Answer 39

Rugae for expansion

Question 40

What kind of muscle is present in the muscular externa of the gallbladder?

Answer 40

Smooth muscle

Question 41

Where does bile from the gallbladder travel?

Answer 41

Cystic duct, common bile duct then duodenum via sphincter of Oddi

Question 42

What controls bile secretion?

Answer 42

Sphincter of Oddi

Question 43

What happens when the sphincter of Oddi is contracted?

Answer 43

Bile forced back into gallbladder

Question 44

What is the function of the gallbladder?

Answer 44

Store and concentrate bile

Question 45

How does the gallbladder concentrate bile?

Answer 45

By absorbing Na+ and H2O

Question 46

How does bile enter the duodenum?

Answer 46

Fat in duodenum causes release of CCK causing sphincter to relax and gallbladder to contract