What is the role of the liver in the body?
The liver, located in the right upper quadrant of the body and below the diaphragm, is responsible for several functions.
The liver is the largest organ in the body.
It contributing about 2% of the total body weight, or about 1.5 kg in an adult person.
The liver has different functions:
| Filtration and storage of blood | Because it is an expandable organ, the liver can store large amounts of blood in its blood vessels. |
| Metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, hormones and foreign chemicals | Regarding carbohydrate metabolism, the liver: 1-store large amounts of glycogen; 2-converts galactose and fructose into glucose; 3-forms chemical compounds from carbohydrate metabolism intermediates; 4-makes gluconeogenesis. In relation to lipid metabolism, the liver: 1-oxidizes fatty acids to supply energy for other bodily functions; 2-synthesizes large amounts of cholesterol, phospholipids and most lipoproteins; 3-Synthesizes fat to proteins and carbohydrates. Regarding protein metabolism, the liver: 1-does deamination of amino acids; 2-form urea to remove ammonia from body fluids; 3-forms plasma proteins. It is responsible for the primary detoxification of various metabolites |
| Formation of bile | The liver secretes bile. bile acts by digesting fats. The bile secreted by the hepatocytes flows through the hepatic ducts to the gallbladder, which stores and concentrates the bile solution. |
| Storage of vitamins and iron | The liver stores vitamin A, D, E, K and B12. The first four of these are all fat soluble. Iron is stored in the liver in the cores of ferritin shells and as hemosiderin, an insoluble product derived from iron-rich ferritin. |
| Formation of clotting factors | Within the liver, hepatocytes are involved in the synthesis of most blood coagulation factors, such as fibrinogen, prothrombin, factor V, VII, IX, X, XI, XII, as well as protein C and S, and antithrombin, whereas liver sinusoidal endothelial cells produce factor VIII and von Willebrand factor. |