Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Love your liver

Liver is a multifunction and a the largest organ in the human body. All the tasks performed by liver are carried out by the liver cells or hepatocytes.
The liver produces and excretes bile required for food digestion. Some of the bile drains directly into the duodenum, and some is stored in the gallbladder.
The liver performs several roles in carbohydrate metabolism:
Gluconeogenesis (the formation of glucose from certain amino acids, lactate or glycerol)
Glycogenolysis (the formation of glucose from glycogen)
Glycogenesis (the formation of glycogen from glucose)
The breakdown of insulin and other hormones
The liver also performs several roles in lipid metabolism:
Cholesterol synthesis
The production of triglycerides (fats).
The liver produces coagulation factors I (fibrinogen), II (prothrombin), V, VII, IX, and XI, as well as protein C, protein S and antithrombin.
The liver neutralizes toxins, most medicinal products, and hemoglobin.
The liver converts ammonia to urea.
The liver stores of a multitude of substances, including glucose in the form of glycogen, vitamin B12, iron, and copper.
In the first trimester fetus, the liver is the main site of red blood cell production. By the 42nd week of gestation, the bone marrow has almost completely taken over that task.