ABSTRACT

The liver is the largest (1.4–1.6 kg in an adult person) and metabolically the most complex organ in the body, involved in the metabolism of nutrients as well as most drugs and toxicants. The latter types of substances are usually detoxified, but many of them may be bioactivated and become more toxic. Hepatocytes (hepatic parenchymal cells) comprise the bulk of the organ. These cells are responsible for the liver’s central role in metabolism, and lie between blood-filled sinusoids and the biliary passages. Kupffer cells line the hepatic sinusoids and constitute an important part of the reticuloendothelial system of the body. The blood is supplied through the portal vein and hepatic artery, and it is drained through the central veins, followed by the hepatic vein into the vena cava. The biliary passages begin as tiny bile canaliculi, formed by adjacent parenchymal cells, which 254coalesce into ductules, interlobular bile ducts, and larger hepatic ducts (Figure 12.1). The main hepatic duct joins the cystic duct from the gall bladder to form the common bile duct, which drains into the duodenum.