What does the liver do?
A: The liver performs many essential biological functions such as
detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and
biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth.
Where is it located in humans?
A: In the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, below the diaphragm.
What other roles in metabolism does the liver include?
A: The regulation of glycogen storage, decomposition of red blood cells, and
the production of hormones.
The liver is an accessory digestive organ that produces
what?
A: Bile, an alkaline fluid containing cholesterol and bile acids, which
helps the breakdown of fat.
It is not known how to compensate for the absence of
liver function in what?
A: The long term.
What can be used in the short term?
A: Liver dialysis techniques.
Artificial livers have not been developed to promote
long-term replacement in the absence of the liver. As of
2018, what is the
only option for complete liver failure?
A: Liver transplantation.
What does the liver look like?
A: It is a reddish-brown, wedge-shaped organ with two lobes of unequal size
and shape.
How much does a human liver normally weigh?
A: Approximately 1.5 kg (3.3 lb).
How wide is it?
A: About 15 cm (6 in).
There is considerable size variation between
individuals, with the standard reference range for men being 2.14–4.10 lb,
and how much for women?
A: 1.32–3.90 lb.
It is both the heaviest internal organ and the largest
“what” in the human body?
A: Gland.
It is in the right upper quadrant of the abdominal
cavity, it rests just below the diaphragm, to the right of the stomach and
overlies what?
A: The gallbladder.
The liver is connected to two large what?
A: Blood vessels: the hepatic artery and the portal vein.
The hepatic artery carries oxygen-rich blood from the
aorta via what?
A: The celiac trunk.
The portal vein carries blood rich in digested
nutrients from the entire gastrointestinal tract and from where else?
A: The spleen and pancreas.
These blood vessels subdivide into small capillaries
known as what?
A: Liver sinusoids, which then lead to lobules.
What are lobules?
A: They are the functional units of the liver.
Each lobule is made up of millions of what?
A: Hepatic cells (hepatocytes), which are the basic metabolic cells. .
The liver is grossly divided into two parts when viewed
from above – a right and a left lobe - and four parts when viewed from
where?
A: From below.
The falciform ligament makes a superficial division of
the liver into what?
A: A left and right lobe.
About 20,000 protein coding genes are expressed in
human cells; what percentage of these genes are expressed in a normal, adult
liver?
A: 60%.
The liver is thought to be responsible for up to how
many separate functions, usually in combination with other systems and
organs?
A: 500.
The liver also accounts for how much of resting total
body oxygen consumption?
A: About 20%.
What is the biliary tract, also known as the biliary
tree?
A: It is the path by which bile is secreted by the liver then transported to
the first part of the small intestine, the duodenum.
The liver plays a major role in the metabolism of what?
A: Carbohydrate, protein, amino acid, and lipid.
When needed, the liver releases glucose into the blood
by performing what?
A: Glycogenolysis, the breakdown of glycogen into glucose.
The liver is also responsible for gluconeogenesis,
which is the synthesis of glucose from certain what?
A: Amino acids, lactate, or glycerol.
Adipose and liver cells produce glycerol by breakdown
of what?
A: Fat, which the liver uses for gluconeogenesis.