Maintain healthy liver function

The liver is an organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It plays a major role in metabolism and has a number of functions in the body, including glycogen storage, decomposition of red blood cells, plasma protein synthesis, and detoxification. This organ also is the largest gland in the human body. It lies below the diaphragm in theregion of the abdomen. It produces bile, an alkaline compound which aids in digestion, via the emulsification of lipids. It also performs and regulates a wide variety of high-volume biochemical reactions requiring very specialized tissues. Medical terms related to the liver often start in hepato- or hepatic from the Greek word for liver, hēpar (ήπαρ thoracic.

Flow of blood

The splenic vein joins the inferior mesenteric vein, which then together join with the superior mesenteric vein to form the hepatic portal vein, bringing veneous blood from the spleen, pancreas, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, so that the liver can process the nutrients and byproducts of food digestion. The hepatic veins drain directly into the inferior vena cava. The hepatic artery is generally a branch from the celiac trunk, although occasionally some or all of the blood can be from other branches such as the superior mesenteric artery. Both the portal venules & the hepatic arterioles enter approximately one million identical lobules acini, likened to leaves on the liver tree, to enter about 1000 tiny vessels capillaries or sinusoids which are perforated by multiple pores or fenestrae. This network of perforated sinusoids separates the ciculating blood from the liver cells hepatocytes & is known as the 'Liver Sieve'. The sieve controls the balance between dietary fat, including cholesterol & that synthesised in the liver. There are thus implications for many diseases, such as hardening of the arteries, heart attack, stroke, osteoprosis, fatty liver, cirrhosis etc. This is resultant from changes in the sieve's porosity brought about by factors as diverse as smoking, alcohol abuse, diabetes, old age and changes in the size of chylomicrons lipoproteins of dietary origin brought about by the quantity & types of food fats. [see google, liver sieve] Approximately 60% to 80% of the blood flow to the liver is from the portal venous system, and 1/4 is from the hepatic arteryRegeneration The liver is among the few internal human organs capable of natural regeneration of lost tissue; as little as 25% of remaining liver can regenerate into a whole liver again. This is predominantly due to the hepatocytes acting as unipotential stem cells (i.e. a single hepatocyte can divide into two hepatocyte daughter cells). There is also some evidence of bipotential stem cells, called ovalocyte(oīvə-lo-sīt), which exist in the Canals of Hering. These cells can differentiate into either hepatocytes or cholangiocytes (cells that line the bile ducts).

Diseases of the liver

Many diseases of the liver are accompanied by jaundice caused by increased levels of bilirubin in the system. The bilirubin results from the breakup of the hemoglobin of dead red blood cells; normally, the liver removes bilirubin from the blood and excretes it through bile. •Hepatitis, inflammation of the liver, caused mainly by various viruses but also by some poisons, autoimmunity or hereditary conditions. •Cirrhosis is the formation of fibrous tissue in the liver, replacing dead liver cells. The death of the liver cells can for example be caused by viral hepatitis, alcoholism or contact with other liver-toxic chemicals.

•Haemochromatosis, a hereditary disease causing the accumulation of iron in the body, eventually leading to liver damage.

•Cancer of the liver (primary hepatocellular carcinoma or cholangiocarcinoma and metastatic cancers, usually from other parts of the gastrointestinal tract).

•Wilson's disease, a hereditary disease which causes the body to retain copper.

•Primary sclerosing cholangitis, an inflammatory disease of the bile duct, autoimmune in nature.

•Primary biliary cirrhosis, autoimmune disease of small bile ducts.

•Budd-Chiari syndrome, obstruction of the hepatic vein.

•Gilbert's syndrome, a genetic disorder of bilirubin metabolism, found in about 5% of the population.

•Glycogen storage disease type II,The build-up of glycogen causes progressive muscle weakness (myopathy) throughout the body and affects various body tissues, particularly in the heart, skeletal muscles, liver and nervous system.

There are also many pediatric liver disease, including biliary atresia, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, alagille syndrome, and progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis, to name but a few. A number of liver function tests are available to test the proper function of the liver. These test for the presence of enzymes in blood that are normally most abundant in liver tissue, metabolites or products.

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Classification & external resources Liver cancer is characterized by the presence of malignant hepatic tumors -- tumors or growths on or in the liver (medical terms pertaining to the liver often start in hepato- or hepatic from the Greek word for liver, hēpar, stem hēpat-). They may be discovered on medical imaging (even for a different reason than the cancer itself), or may be present in patients as an abdominal mass, hepatomegaly, abdominal pain, jaundice, or some other liver dysfunction.

CANCER TYPES

As the largest internal organ, the liver performs a variety of vital functions. Different cell types are responsible for these diverse functions. The basic liver cells (known as hepatocytes) produce blood clotting factors, synthesize bile, metabolize proteins and remove toxins from the blood. The liver has a rich network of blood vessels carrying nutrients and toxins from the intestine to the liver and back to the circulation. The liver also has a system of bile ducts which carry bile (a green fluid that helps digestion of food) from the liver and gall bladder into the intestine. Tumors may arise from any of these types of cells and thus there is a wide variety in types of liver cancer.

Tumors can be generally thought of as benign or malignant. Benign tumors are unlikely to metastasize (spread throughout the body) while malignant tumors are cancerous and are likely to spread to other organs.

Liver Cancer types listed by cell of origin

List of benign tumors and cell of origin List of malignant (cancerous) tumors and cell of origin.

Hepatocytes

- Adenoma - Hepatocellular carcinoma - Focal nodular hyperplasia - Hepatoblastoma - Fibrolamellar carcinoma

Vessels

- Hemangioma - Angiosarcoma Bile duct Bile duct - Adenoma - Cholangiocarcinoma - Hamartoma (Von Myenberg Complex)

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