ma. niña regina m.

quibod
what is a liver?
 largest gland in the body
 weighs about 1500 gm in adult
 functions both exocrine gland and
endocrine gland
◦ exocrine: secreting bile ducts into the duodenum
◦ endocrine: synthesizing a variety of substances
that are released directly into the
bloodstream
review on histology of
liver…
 sheets of connective tissue divide the liver
into thousands of small units (lobules)

 lobule
◦ roughly hexagonal in shape
◦ with portal triads at the vertices and a central
vein in the middle
◦ structural unit of the liver
 hepatic acinus
◦ difficult to visualize
◦ represents a unit that is of more relevance to
hepatic function
◦ oriented around the afferent vascular system
 hepatocytes
◦ parenchymal cells of the liver
◦ polygonal cells
◦ joined to one another in anastomosing plates,
with borders that face either the sinusoids or
adjacent hepatocytes
 sinusoids
◦ where hepatocytes make contact with blood
◦ distensible vascular channels lined with highly
fenestrated endothelial cells and populated with
phagocytic Kupffer cells
◦ Space of Disse
space between endothelium and hepatocytes
which collects lymph for delivery to lymphatic
capillaries
 bile originates as secretions from the basal
surface of hepatocytes, which collect in
channels called canaliculi

 these secretions flow toward the periphery

of lobules and into bile ductules and
interlobular bile ducts, ultimately
collecting in the hepatic duct outside the
liver
 the hepatic duct is continuous with the
common bile duct, which delivers bile into
the duodenum

 portal triad
◦ groups of three tubes
◦ a branch of the portal vein, a branch of the
hepatic artery and a branch of the bile duct
histochemistry…
Hepatocytes stained standard hematoxylin-eosin stain.
Liver lobule in a
rabbit that's been
injected with India
ink
  section of liver, stained to
show glycogen. The deep
magenta coloration of the
cells is evident

PAS reaction

 tissue treated with

diastase enzyme before
the stain was applied. The
staining reaction has been
abolished. The use of
enzymes of known
specificities to establish
controlled reactions is a
basic technique in
PAS reaction histochemistry.
Oil Red O stained liver section. This dye stains fat droplets in bright red.
Resident Macrophages "Kupffer Cells“ stained with hematoxylin-eosin.
Liver section with infiltrate stained for chloroacetate esterase activity (Leder
stain, in red). This enzyme is a marker for granulocytes such as neutrophils
Histochemical detection of OTC (ornithine carbamyltransferase) activity in liver.
Mice deficient in functional OTC received AAV vectors expressing this enzyme.
OTC activity was visualized by a histochemical procedure leading to the
deposition of lead sulfide within transduced hepatocytes.
diseases of the liver…

 jaundice
◦ caused by increased levels of bilirubin in the
system
◦ 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
◦ 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
◦ hereditary disease causing the accumulation of
iron in the body, eventually leading to liver
damage.
An electron micrograph scan of liver cirrhosis, a chronic disease in which
cells of the liver are damaged and then replaced by scar tissue.
 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

◦ 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
 other pediatric diseases associated with
liver:

◦ biliary atresia
◦ alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
◦ alagille syndrome
◦ progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis