liver structure
-red brown color
-divided into lobes
-sharp edges (if soft edges something wrong
-composed of many hepatic lobules or acinus (same thing)
liver blood supply
liver cell structure
-then layer of hepatocytes with hepatic and portal venule coming together and draining into sinusoids.
-sinusoids have holes which allow the interaction between liver and systemic circulation via the space of disse
-the space of disse: space between helatpcytes and sinusoids. contains stallate cells.
-liver filters blood
-in diseased cells the stellate cells with form firbous tissue. so fibrous tissue in space of disse so less blood filtering/ systemic circulation.
-any amount of liver firbosis is clinically relevent.
Space of Disse
Hepatic lobule (Hexagonal)
Hepatic acinus (diamond shaped)
gallbladder
function of the liver: bilirubin metabolism
-bilirubin comes from RBC, where they are filtered by spleen (heme) is phagocytozed by macrophages in spleen. splits into heme + globin
-heme converted to bilirubim. (production)
-bilirubin leaves spleen binds albumin in blood, taken up by liver where it is conjugated. (uptake)
- excreted in bile ( intestines) and is absorbed again
Jaundice 3 causes? and clinical
Jaundice = Icterus
Yellow Discoloration Of Tissues
3 types:
* Prehepatic Jaundice=
Cause: increase break down
of RBCs (liver can’t keep up!) lots of conjugated bilirubin.
* Hepatic Jaundice=
Cause: decreased uptake of
bilirubin due to liver disease
(bilirubin accumulates
because the liver is not
removing it from the blood)
* Post-hepatic Jaundice=
Cause: decreased hepatic
excretion of bilirubin with bile
(cholestasis)
common causes of jaundice in ruminants or horses
functions of the liver
1 bilirubin metabolism
2 bile acid metabolim
3 carb metabolism: (everything to do with glucose, storage, formation ect.)
4 lipid metabolism: production and degradation of plasma lipids.
5 protein synthesis: 15% of proteins (albumin, clotting factors) and site for ammonia metabolism.
-ammonia is a toxic product of protein catabolism (in intestines), converted into urea in liver through urea cycle.
Normal liver function
2. Bile acid metabolism
Responses of the liver to injury
What can happen to the liver?
Degeneration Necrosis and Apoptosis of liver 3 types
Patterns of distribution of degeneration and
necrosis:
1. Random= caused by bacteria or protozoa, brought from blood.
2. Zonal (5 types)
3. Massive
zonal pattern of necrosis: centrilobular
-Most common type of zonal
change
-Hepatocytes are least oxygentaed
i.e. Prone to necrosis
-Hepatocytes contain greatest conc. of detoxyfying enzymes, aka mixed function oxidases or Cytochrome P450 enzymes.
-ex (nutmeg liver)
Common causes:
1. Toxins requiring metabolic
activation
2. Passive congestion in the liver
zonal pattern of necrosis paracentral
Zonal pattern
3. Periportal (least common) 4 midzonal both rare
Zonal pattern
5. Bridging necrosis
massive necrosis of liver
-The term describes
necrosis of an entire
hepatic lobule or
contiguous lobules
Disturbances of bile flow =(cholestasis)-Two types
-Intrahepatic & Extrahepatic
-intrahepatic Cholestasis:
Affects bile caniliculi or
ductules within the liver
Causes:
- Liver injury (fibrosis)
- Inherited abnormality of
bile synthesis and secretion
-Extrahepatic Cholestasis:
Affects extrahepatic bile duct
Causes:
-obstruction due to a mass within or outside the lumen. Will lead to
intrahepatic cholestasis
-If prolonged leads to fibrosis &
bile duct proliferation in the liver
liver regeneration
-Depends on the extent of damage
- If small: local proliferation of adjacent hepatocytes
- If extensive loss of hepatocytes and loss of extracellular matrix scaffold (basement membrane) (reticulin) occur:
You see regenerative nodules, disorganized regeneration.
-they don’t restroy hepatic function completely due to BF and bile flow is abnormal from firbosis.
fibrosis due to liver injury
-reduced interaction from liver and systemic circulation
-examples: long standing R sided H failure, lack of flow causes liver firbosis
- Random areas of fibrosis are see when parasites migrate through the hepatic parenchyma.
-“Bridging fibrosis” indicates that
the fibrosis extends from one portal area to another or to
centrilobular area
-liver with firbosis will have irregular surface, pale & firm from collagen. mishaped (shrink)
End Stage Liver (Cirrhosis)
3 processes all happening at same time:
-Degeneration and necrosis
-Regeneration,
-Fibrosis
These processes must be present almost diffusely throughout the liver to call it an end stage liver
hepatic failure definition
“loss of adequate hepatic function as a consequence of either acute or chronic hepatic damage”.