The role of the Liver. Second to none, important to all… By: Daddy Watson, Tyra Moore, X- Factor, and Hops Green.

Location! Location! Location! -The liver is located in the right upper quadrant of the chest, under the lower ribs. - spans almost the entire width of the body. - weighs approximately 3lbs and performs over 500 known functions.

-The liver is composed of 4 lobes; -the median lobe - right lobe -caudate lobe - the left lobe. Composition - Generally one will find diagrams only showing 2 lobes as opposed to 4 in the liver because the right and left lobe areas are the anterior of the liver and represent general categorizing.

Comparison 4 lobe representation “2” lobe representation

Hepatocyte cell The liver is made up of cells called hepatocytes which regulate (add/remove) substances from the liver

The liver has 2 blood suppliers 1)Hepatic vein -transports blood from the heart to the liver supplying it with oxygenated blood. 2) Portal vein - brings blood with nutrients to the liver from the small intestine. -this vein ensures that the liver has first access to amino acids and sugars absorbed after a meal is digested.

Fun Fact!! - Did you know that the LIVER is the ONLY organ in the human body that can regenerate itself??

Key functions (narrowed down just a tad) =] The liver performs over 500 known functions. Focus: detoxification and storage of nutrients

Function 1: Remove waste from the body. -Waste – foreign substances to the body i.e. drugs, alcohol, etc. -Breaks down toxins in the body to allow for secretion.

Function 2: Filters blood -removal of bacteria -destroys useless red and white blood cells and recycles their iron. -Stores glucose, fats, iron, copper, and many vitamins including vitamins A and D. -converts glucose into glycogen and uses it to maintain our blood sugar.

Function 3: Produces bile. -Bile is a mixture of substances that aids in the digestion and absorption of fats. - Bile is released from the Liver into the Gallbladder where it is stored until it’s needed. It then passes into the duodenum of the small intestine.

Detoxification: It’s time to eliminate..! WHHAAACHAAAAA!!!

-The Liver’s role in detoxifying the body is changing, or detoxifying toxins into substances that can be SAFELY eliminated from the body. Examples of toxins are alcohol, drugs, excess Vitamin A, etc.

Bile plays a role in eliminating these detoxified toxins. -The Liver transforms fat-soluble toxins into a water-soluble form so they can be released through the kidneys and into bile. -Bile carries toxins into the small intestine where they are then urinated out. A healthy liver will produce 1 quart of bile per day.

How in the world did she(the Liver) do that?? The Liver is able to break down toxins into water-soluble substances by using….. ENZYMES!! The enzymes used by the Liver are contained within the hepatocytes(Liver cells). They include aspartate aminotransferase (AST or SGOT) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT or SGPT).

Detoxification Phase enzymes chemically break down toxins. 3 things can happen to toxins when they are broken down. -Neutralized and released into bile -Made water-soluble so kidneys can excrete them in urine. -Converted into active intermediaries (more chemically active forms of toxins) *Active intermediary conversions occur in order for the liver to extract the necessary elements of that toxin, otherwise the toxin would just be a useless waste product. (Not all toxins are useful. An example of some that are, are pharmaceutical drugs.) - Vitamin A is stored in the liver, metabolized, and shipped out when needed. Too much of it can be toxic to the body.

Detoxification Phase 2 Active intermediaries must then be converted a second time where they are combined with biochemicals that are water-soluble. -After Phase 2 these once highly chemically active toxins can safely be excreted in urine and bile * PHASE 2 is necessary because active intermediaries are VERY toxic, and if they are not combined with water-soluble biochemicals, those toxins will build up in the body and cause harm.

Stored Nutrients.. Liver filters out nutrients of the blood. -Next, it takes the nutrients into its own cells, processes them, and sends them to the body where they are needed. - The Liver filters more than a quart of blood each minute.

-The Liver converts carbs., fats, and proteins into glucose to regulate blood sugar. -OR stores this fuel as glycogen until it needs to be used. -The fats broken down by the Liver are used for distribution and storage.

Last but not least for Liver storage of nutrients… Vitamin D is biologically inactive and must be metabolized to its biologically active form by the Liver. -When Vitamin D enters circulation it’s transported to the Liver where it is hydroxylated (+ -OH) to form 25-hydroxyvitamin D, it’s biologically active state. -From here, the Liver can extract the “goods” from the vitamin and deliver them to the body.