The Liver, gall-bladder and

pancreas
Dr Muma
 The Liver
• Largest gland in the body
• Weighs about 1.4kg
• Performs various
functions
• Its digestive role is to
produce bile a green
alkaline liquid that is
stored in the gallbladder
and secreted in the small
intestine; it emulsifies fat.
• Many metabolic functions
including;
– Storage of glucose as
glycogen, vitamins
(A,B,D,E,K),
– Processes fats and amino
acids
– Detoxifies many poisons
and drugs in the body
– Produces many blood
proteins e.g clotting
factors, globulins, albumin,
 Gross anatomy
• Located in the right
hypochondriac and
epigastric regions
• Lies under the rib cage
• Has two surfaces
• Diaphragmatic
surface
• Visceral surface
• Has a right lobe and left
lobe divided by
falciform ligament
anteriorly and the
fissure on visceral
surface
• Two other lobes (Now
considered part of the
left lobe)
• Quadrate lobe
• Caudate lobe
 Left lobe
Right lobe
Falciform ligament

Round ligament

Gallbladder
Quadrate lobe

Caudate lobe

Bare area
 Microscopic anatomy
• Liver is made of liver cells
called hepatocytes arranged in
plates
• These create patterns that
form millions of liver lobules
• Each lobule is shaped like a
hexagon with a central vein
• At every corner of the lobule is
a portal triad consisting of
three main vessels
– Portal arteriole
– Portal venule
– Bile duct
 Liver lobule
To
hepatic
vein

Bile duct

Portal
triad
Portal
venule

Portal
arteriole

Central vein
hepatocytes
 Gallbladder
• Muscular sac resting in a
shallow depression on the
visceral surface of the right
lobe of the liver
• It stores and concentrates
bile
• It has a fundus, body and
neck
• From the neck it joins into
its duct called cystic duct
• Cystic duct joins the
common hepatic duct from
the liver to form the bile
duct
Biliary tree
Flow of bile
1. Secreted by
hepatocytes in the
liver
2. Collected in hepatic
bile ducts right and
left
3. The two fuse to form
common hepatic duct
4. Cystic duct from the
gallbladder unites with
common hepatic duct
to form common bile
duct
5. Drains into the
duodenum
 The pancreas
• Is both an endocrine and
exocrine gland
• Its endocrine function is
to secrete insulin and
glucagon
• Its exocrine function is to
produce digestive
enzymes
• Gross anatomy
– Retroperitoneal organ
– Lies in the epigastric and
left hypochondriac regions
– Has a head, neck, body and
tail
– Head is surrounded by the
duodenum
– The tail extends to the left
to touch the spleen
– Has two ducts- main
pancreatic duct and an
accessory pancreatic duct
Pancreatic acini
• Exocrine gland are
compound acinar glands
that open into the two
large ducts like clusters of
grapes on a vine
• Acini of these glands
secrete several enzymes
stored in inactive forms in
intracellular granules
called zymogen granules
• The epithelial cells that
line the small ducts
secrete bicarbonate
Thank you.