Chapter 28: Transport & Metabolic Functions of the Liver

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

• Describe the major functions of the liver with respect to metabolism, detoxification, and excretion of hydrophobic substances.

• Understand the functional anatomy of the liver and the relative arrangements of hepatocytes, cholangiocytes, endothelial cells, and Kupffer cells.

• Define the characteristics of the hepatic circulation and its role in subserving the liver’s functions.

• Identify the plasma proteins that are synthesized by the liver.

• Describe the formation of bile, its constituents, and its role in the excretion of cholesterol and bilirubin.

• Outline the mechanisms by which the liver contributes to whole body ammonia homeostasis and the consequences of the failure of these mechanisms, particularly for brain function.

• Identify the mechanisms that permit normal functioning of the gallbladder and the basis of gallstone disease.

The liver is the largest gland in the body. It is essential for life because it conducts a vast array of biochemical and metabolic functions, including ridding the body of substances that would otherwise be injurious if allowed to accumulate, and excreting drug metabolites. It is also the first port of call for most nutrients absorbed across the gut wall, supplies most of the plasma proteins, and synthesizes the bile that optimizes the absorption of fats as well as serving as an excretory fluid. The liver and associated biliary system have therefore evolved an array of structural and physiologic features that underpin this broad range of critical functions.

FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY

An important function of the liver is to serve as a filter between the blood coming from the gastrointestinal tract and the blood in the rest of the body. Blood from the intestines and other viscera reach the liver via the portal vein. This blood percolates in sinusoids between plates of hepatic cells and eventually drains into the hepatic veins, which enter the inferior vena cava. During its passage through the hepatic plates, it is extensively modified chemically. Bile is formed on the other side at each plate. The bile passes to the intestine via the hepatic duct (Figure 28–1).

In each hepatic lobule, the plates of hepatic cells are usually only one cell thick. Large gaps occur between the endothelial cells, and plasma is in intimate contact with the cells (Figure 28–2). Hepatic artery blood also enters the sinusoids. The central veins coalesce to form the hepatic veins, which drain into the inferior vena cava. The average transit time for blood across the liver lobule from the portal venule to the central hepatic vein is about 8.4 s. Additional details of the features of the hepatic microcirculation and macrocirculation, which are critical to organ function, are provided below. Numerous macrophages (Kupffer cells) are anchored to the endothelium of the sinusoids and project into the lumen. The functions of these phagocytic cells are discussed in Chapter 3.

Each liver cell is also opposed to several bile canaliculi (Figure 28–2). The canaliculi drain into intralobular bile ducts, and these coalesce via interlobular bile ducts to form the right and left hepatic ducts. These ducts join outside the liver to form the common hepatic duct. The cystic duct drains the gallbladder. The hepatic duct unites with the cystic duct to form the common bile duct (Figure 28–1). The common bile duct enters the duodenum at the duodenal papilla. Its orifice is surrounded by the sphincter of Oddi, and it usually unites with the main pancreatic duct just before entering the duodenum. The sphincter is usually closed, but when the gastric contents enter the duodenum, cholecystokinin (CCK) is released and the gastrointestinal hormone relaxes the sphincter and makes the gallbladder contract.

The walls of the extrahepatic biliary ducts and the gallbladder contain fibrous tissue and smooth muscle. They are lined by a layer of columnar cells with scattered mucous glands. In the gallbladder, the surface is extensively folded; this increases its surface area and gives the interior of the gallbladder a honeycombed appearance. The cystic duct is also folded to form the so-called spiral valves. This arrangement is believed to increase the turbulence of bile as it flows out of the gallbladder, thereby reducing the risk that it will precipitate and form gallstones.

HEPATIC CIRCULATION

Large gaps occur between endothelial cells in the walls of hepatic sinusoids, and the sinusoids are highly permeable. The way the intrahepatic branches of the hepatic artery and portal vein converge on the sinusoids and drain into the central lobular veins of the liver is shown in Figure 28–1. The functional unit of the liver is the acinus. Each acinus is at the end of a vascular stalk containing terminal branches of portal veins, hepatic arteries, and bile ducts. Blood flows from the center of this functional unit to the terminal branches of the hepatic veins at the periphery (Figure 28–3). This is why the central portion of the acinus, sometimes called zone 1, is well oxygenated, the intermediate zone (zone 2) is moderately well oxygenated, and the peripheral zone (zone 3) is least well oxygenated and most susceptible to anoxic injury. The hepatic veins drain into the inferior vena cava. The acini have been likened to grapes or berries, each on a vascular stem. The human liver contains about 100,000 acini.

Portal venous pressure is normally about 10 mm Hg in humans, and hepatic venous pressure is approximately 5 mm Hg. The mean pressure in the hepatic artery branches that converge on the sinusoids is about 90 mm Hg, but the pressure in the sinusoids is lower than the portal venous pressure, so a marked pressure drop occurs along the hepatic arterioles. This pressure drop is adjusted so that there is an inverse relationship between hepatic arterial and portal venous blood flow. This inverse relationship may be maintained in part by the rate at which adenosine is removed from the region around the arterioles. According to this hypothesis, adenosine is produced by metabolism at a constant rate. When portal flow is reduced, it is washed away more slowly, and the local accumulation of adenosine dilates the terminal arterioles. In the period between meals, moreover, many of the sinusoids are collapsed. Following a meal, on the other hand, when portal flow to the liver from the intestine increases considerably, these “reserve” sinusoids are recruited. This arrangement means that portal pressures do not increase linearly with portal flow until all sinusoids have been recruited. This may be important to prevent fluid loss from the highly permeable liver under normal conditions. Indeed, if hepatic pressures are increased in disease states (such as the hardening of the liver that is seen in cirrhosis), many liters of fluid can accumulate in the peritoneal cavity as ascites.

The intrahepatic portal vein radicles have smooth muscle in their walls that is innervated by noradrenergic vasoconstrictor nerve fibers reaching the liver via the 3rd to 11th thoracic ventral roots and the splanchnic nerves. The vasoconstrictor innervation of the hepatic artery comes from the hepatic sympathetic plexus. No known vasodilator fibers reach the liver. When systemic venous pressure rises, the portal vein radicles are dilated passively and the amount of blood in the liver increases. In heart failure, this hepatic venous congestion may be extreme. Conversely, when diffuse noradrenergic discharge occurs in response to a drop in systemic blood pressure, the intrahepatic portal radicles constrict, portal pressure rises, and blood flow through the liver is brisk, bypassing most of the organ. Most of the blood in the liver enters the systemic circulation. Constriction of the hepatic arterioles diverts blood from the liver, and constriction of the mesenteric arterioles reduces portal inflow. In severe shock, hepatic blood flow may be reduced to such a degree that patchy necrosis of the liver takes place.

The liver has many complex functions that are summarized in Table 28–1. Several will be touched upon briefly here.

METABOLISM & DETOXIFICATION

It is beyond the scope of this volume to touch upon all of the metabolic functions of the liver. Instead, this chapter will focus on those aspects most closely aligned to gastrointestinal physiology. First, the liver plays key roles in carbohydrate metabolism, including glycogen storage, conversion of galactose and fructose to glucose, and gluconeogenesis, as well as many of the reactions covered in Chapter 1. The substrates for these reactions derive from the products of carbohydrate digestion and absorption that are transported from the intestine to the liver in the portal blood. The liver also plays a major role in maintaining the stability of blood glucose levels in the postprandial period, removing excess glucose from the blood and returning it as needed—the so-called glucose buffer function of the liver. In liver failure, hypoglycemia is commonly seen. Similarly, the liver contributes to fat metabolism. It supports a high rate of fatty acid oxidation for energy supply to the liver itself and other organs. Amino acids and two carbon fragments derived from carbohydrates are also converted in the liver to fats for storage. The liver also synthesizes most of the lipoproteins required by the body and preserves cholesterol homeostasis by synthesizing this molecule and also converting excess cholesterol to bile acids.

The liver also detoxifies the blood of substances originating from the gut or elsewhere in the body (Clinical Box 28–1). Part of this function is physical in nature—bacteria and other particulates are trapped in and broken down by the strategically located Kupffer cells. The remaining reactions are biochemical, and mediated in their first stages by the large number of cytochrome P450 enzymes expressed in hepatocytes. These convert xenobiotics and other toxins to inactive, less lipophilic metabolites. Detoxification reactions are divided into phase I (oxidation, hydroxylation, and other reactions mediated by cytochrome P450s) and phase II (esterification). Ultimately, metabolites are secreted into the bile for elimination via the gastrointestinal tract. In this regard, in addition to disposing of drugs, the liver is responsible for metabolism of essentially all steroid hormones. Liver disease can therefore result in the apparent overactivity of the relevant hormone systems.

SYNTHESIS OF PLASMA PROTEINS

The principal proteins synthesized by the liver are listed in Table 28–1. Albumin is quantitatively the most significant, and accounts for the majority of plasma oncotic pressure. Many of the products are acute-phase proteins, proteins synthesized and secreted into the plasma on exposure to stressful stimuli (see Chapter 3). Others are proteins that transport steroids and other hormones in the plasma, and still others are clotting factors. Following blood loss, the liver replaces the plasma proteins in days to weeks. The only major class of plasma proteins not synthesized by the liver is the immunoglobulins.

BILE

Bile is made up of the bile acids, bile pigments, and other substances dissolved in an alkaline electrolyte solution that resembles pancreatic juice (Table 28–2). About 500 mL is secreted per day. Some of the components of the bile are reabsorbed in the intestine and then excreted again by the liver (enterohepatic circulation). In addition to its role in digestion and absorption of fats (Chapter 26), bile (and subsequently the feces) is the major excretory route for lipid-soluble waste products.

The glucuronides of the bile pigments, bilirubin and biliverdin, are responsible for the golden yellow color of bile. The formation of these breakdown products of hemoglobin is discussed in detail in Chapter 31, and their excretion is discussed in the following text.

BILIRUBIN METABOLISM & EXCRETION

Most of the bilirubin in the body is formed in the tissues by the break down of hemoglobin (see Chapter 31 and Figure 28–4). The bilirubin is bound to albumin in the circulation. Most of it is tightly bound, but some of it can dissociate in the liver, and free bilirubin enters liver cells via a member of the organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) family, and then becomes bound to cytoplasmic proteins (Figure 28–5). It is next conjugated to glucuronic acid in a reaction catalyzed by the enzyme glucuronyl transferase (UDP-glucuronosyltransferase). This enzyme is located primarily in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Each bilirubin molecule reacts with two uridine diphosphoglucuronic acid (UDPGA) molecules to form bilirubin diglucuronide. This glucuronide, which is more water-soluble than the free bilirubin, is then transported against a concentration gradient most likely by an active transporter known as multidrug resistance protein-2 (MRP-2) into the bile canaliculi. A small amount of the bilirubin glucuronide escapes into the blood, where it is bound less tightly to albumin than is free bilirubin, and is excreted in the urine. Thus, the total plasma bilirubin normally includes free bilirubin plus a small amount of conjugated bilirubin. Most of the bilirubin glucuronide passes via the bile ducts to the intestine.

The intestinal mucosa is relatively impermeable to conjugated bilirubin but is permeable to unconjugated bilirubin and to urobilinogens, a series of colorless derivatives of bilirubin formed by the action of bacteria in the intestine. Consequently, some of the bile pigments and urobilinogens are reabsorbed in the portal circulation. Some of the reabsorbed substances are again excreted by the liver (enterohepatic circulation), but small amounts of urobilinogens enter the general circulation and are excreted in the urine.

JAUNDICE

When free or conjugated bilirubin accumulates in the blood, the skin, scleras, and mucous membranes turn yellow. This yellowness is known as jaundice (icterus) and is usually detectable when the total plasma bilirubin is greater than 2 mg/dL (34 μmol/L). Hyperbilirubinemia may be due to (1) excess production of bilirubin (hemolytic anemia, etc; see Chapter 31), (2) decreased uptake of bilirubin into hepatic cells, (3) disturbed intracellular protein binding or conjugation, (4) disturbed secretion of conjugated bilirubin into the bile canaliculi, or (5) intrahepatic or extrahepatic bile duct obstruction. When it is due to one of the first three processes, the free bilirubin rises. When it is due to disturbed secretion of conjugated bilirubin or bile duct obstruction, bilirubin glucuronide regurgitates into the blood, and it is predominantly the conjugated bilirubin in the plasma that is elevated.

OTHER SUBSTANCES CONJUGATED BY GLUCURONYL TRANSFERASE

The glucuronyl transferase system in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum catalyzes the formation of the glucuronides of a variety of substances in addition to bilirubin. As discussed above, the list includes steroids (see Chapter 20) and various drugs. These other compounds can compete with bilirubin for the enzyme system when they are present in appreciable amounts. In addition, several barbiturates, antihistamines, anticonvulsants, and other compounds cause marked proliferation of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum in the hepatic cells, with a concurrent increase in hepatic glucuronyl transferase activity. Phenobarbital has been used successfully for the treatment of a congenital disease in which there is a relative deficiency of glucuronyl transferase (type 2 UDP-glucuronosyltransferase deficiency).

OTHER SUBSTANCES EXCRETED IN THE BILE

Cholesterol and alkaline phosphatase are excreted in the bile. In patients with jaundice due to intrahepatic or extrahepatic obstruction of the bile duct, the blood levels of these two substances usually rise. A much smaller rise is generally seen when the jaundice is due to nonobstructive hepatocellular disease. Adrenocortical and other steroid hormones and a number of drugs are excreted in the bile and subsequently reabsorbed (enterohepatic circulation).

AMMONIA METABOLISM & EXCRETION

The liver is critical for ammonia handling in the body. Ammonia levels must be carefully controlled because it is toxic to the central nervous system (CNS), and freely permeable across the blood–brain barrier. The liver is the only organ in which the complete urea cycle (also known as the Krebs-Henseleit cycle) is expressed (Figure 1–20). This converts circulating ammonia to urea, which can then be excreted in the urine (Figure 28–6).

Ammonia in the circulation comes primarily from the colon and kidneys with lesser amounts deriving from the breakdown of red blood cells and from metabolism in the muscles. As it passes through the liver, almost all of the ammonia in the circulation is cleared into the hepatocytes. There, it is converted in the mitochondria to carbamoyl phosphate, which in turn reacts with ornithine to generate citrulline. A series of subsequent cytoplasmic reactions eventually produce arginine, and this can be dehydrated to urea and ornithine. The latter returns to the mitochondria to begin another cycle, and urea, as a small molecule, diffuses readily back out into the sinusoidal blood. It is then filtered in the kidneys and lost from the body in the urine.

BILE FORMATION

Bile contains substances that are actively secreted into it across the canalicular membrane, such as bile acids, phosphatidylcholine, conjugated bilirubin, cholesterol, and xenobiotics. Each of these enters the bile by means of a specific canalicular transporter. It is the active secretion of bile acids, however, that is believed to be the primary driving force for the initial formation of canalicular bile. Because they are osmotically active, the canalicular bile is transiently hypertonic. However, the tight junctions that join adjacent hepatocytes are relatively permeable and thus a number of additional substances passively enter the bile from the plasma by diffusion. These substances include water, glucose, calcium, glutathione, amino acids, and urea.

Phosphatidylcholine that enters the bile forms mixed micelles with the bile acids and cholesterol. The ratio of bile acids:phosphatidylcholine:cholesterol in canalicular bile is approximately 10:3:1. Deviations from this ratio may cause cholesterol to precipitate, leading to one type of gallstones (Figure 28–7).

The bile is transferred to progressively larger bile ductules and ducts, where it undergoes modification of its composition. The bile ductules are lined by cholangiocytes, specialized columnar epithelial cells. Their tight junctions are less permeable than those of the hepatocytes, although they remain freely permeable to water and thus bile remains isotonic. The ductules scavenge plasma constituents, such as glucose and amino acids, and return them to the circulation by active transport. Glutathione is also hydrolyzed to its constituent amino acids by an enzyme, gamma glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT), expressed on the apical membrane of the cholangiocytes. Removal of glucose and amino acids is likely important to prevent bacterial overgrowth of the bile, particularly during gallbladder storage (see below). The ductules also secrete bicarbonate in response to secretin in the postprandial period, as well as IgA and mucus for protection.

FUNCTIONS OF THE GALLBLADDER

In normal individuals, bile flows into the gallbladder when the sphincter of Oddi is closed (ie, the period in between meals). In the gallbladder, the bile is concentrated by absorption of water. The degree of this concentration is shown by the increase in the concentration of solids (Table 28–3); hepatic bile is 97% water, whereas the average water content of gallbladder bile is 89%. However, because the bile acids are a micellar solution, the micelles simply become larger, and since osmolarity is a colligative property, bile remains isotonic. However, bile becomes less alkaline as sodium ions are exchanged for protons (although the overall concentration of sodium ions rises with a concomitant loss of chloride and bicarbonate as the bile is concentrated).

When the bile duct and cystic duct are clamped, the intrabiliary pressure rises to about 320 mm of bile in 30 min, and bile secretion stops. However, when the bile duct is clamped and the cystic duct is left open, water is reabsorbed in the gallbladder, and the intrabiliary pressure rises only to about 100 mm of bile in several hours.

REGULATION OF BILIARY SECRETION

When food enters the mouth, the resistance of the sphincter of Oddi decreases under both neural and hormonal influences (Figure 28–8). Fatty acids and amino acids in the duodenum release CCK, which causes gallbladder contraction.

The production of bile is increased by stimulation of the vagus nerves and by the hormone secretin, which increases the water and HCO₃⁻ content of bile. Substances that increase the secretion of bile are known as choleretics. Bile acids themselves are among the most important physiologic choleretics.

EFFECTS OF CHOLECYSTECTOMY

The periodic discharge of bile from the gallbladder aids digestion but is not essential for it. Cholecystectomized patients maintain good health and nutrition with a constant slow discharge of bile into the duodenum, although eventually the bile duct becomes somewhat dilated, and more bile tends to enter the duodenum after meals than at other times. Cholecystectomized patients can even tolerate fried foods, although they generally must avoid foods that are particularly high in fat content.

VISUALIZING THE GALLBLADDER

Exploration of the right upper quadrant with an ultrasonic beam (ultrasonography) and computed tomography (CT) have become the most widely used methods for visualizing the gallbladder and detecting gallstones. A third method of diagnosing gallbladder disease is nuclear cholescintigraphy. When administered intravenously, technetium-99m-labeled derivatives of iminodiacetic acid are excreted in the bile and provide excellent gamma camera images of the gallbladder and bile ducts. The response of the gallbladder to CCK can then be observed following intravenous administration of the hormone. The biliary tree can also be visualized by injecting contrast media from an endoscope channel maneuvered into the sphincter of Oddi, in a procedure known as endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). It is even possible to insert small instruments with which to remove gallstone fragments that may be obstructing the flow of bile, the flow of pancreatic juice, or both (Clinical Box 28–2).

• The liver conducts a huge number of metabolic reactions and serves to detoxify and dispose of many exogenous substances, as well as metabolites endogenous to the body that would be harmful if allowed to accumulate.

• The structure of the liver is such that it can filter large volumes of blood and remove even hydrophobic substances that are protein-bound. This function is provided for by a fenestrated endothelium. The liver also receives essentially all venous blood from the intestine prior to its delivery to the remainder of the body.

• The liver serves to buffer blood glucose, synthesize the majority of plasma proteins, contribute to lipid metabolism, and preserve cholesterol homeostasis.

• Bilirubin is an end product of heme metabolism that is glucuronidated by the hepatocyte to permit its excretion in bile. Bilirubin and its metabolites impart color to the bile and stools.

• The liver removes ammonia from the blood and converts it to urea for excretion by the kidneys. An accumulation of ammonia as well as other toxins causes hepatic encephalopathy in the setting of liver failure.

• Bile contains substances actively secreted across the canalicular membrane by hepatocytes, and notably bile acids, phosphatidylcholine, and cholesterol. The composition of bile is modified as it passes through the bile ducts and is stored in the gallbladder. Gallbladder contraction is regulated to coordinate bile availability with the timing of meals.