VPB 121: Veterinary Physiology - II (2+1)

LIVER AND BILE

• Liver is the largest gland in the body and has number of important functions.
  • Secretion of bile
  • Formation and storage of glycogen 
  • Regulation of glucose level in the systemic circulation.
  • Deamination of NH₃ and formation of urea.
  • Destruction of uric acid
  • Synthesis of fatty acids from carbohydrates and proteins.

  

  • Phosphorylation of fats, introversion of fatty acids, partial oxidation of fatty acids and formation of ketone bodies.
  • Detoxification of poisonous substances brought to it by blood. 
  • Destruction of old erythrocytes 
  • Storage and distribution of anti – pernicious anemia factors
  • Formation of fibrinogen and other plasma factors.
  • Formation of prothrombin
  • Destruction of estrogen.
  • Metabolism of hormones.
• Secretion of bile
  • Secretion of bile as a source of bile acids which is necessary for fat digestion and absorption in the jejunum
  • Bile pigments provides the excretory route for certain endogenous metabolites and drugs.
  • Additional buffer to neutralize H⁺ ions in the proximal duodenum.
• Gall Bladder
  • It is a storage organ of the bile for continuous secretion of bile. The walls of the gall bladder secrete mucin and absorb H₂O from the bile inorder to concentrate the  bile. 
  • The horses, rat, deer, elk, moose, giraffe, camel, elephant and pigeon do not possess a gall bladder.
  • Removal of the gall bladder, does not result in any great physiological disturbance.
• Bile
  • Bile is both a secretive and an excretive substances. It plays an important role in the solubilization and absorption of fat.