Q.(a) What are the functions of Liver? OR
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The liver is the body's largest gland and central metabolic organ, performing digestive (bile secretion), metabolic, detoxifying, storage, and blood-related functions.
Answering part (a): What are the functions of Liver?
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Secretion of bile: liver (hepatic) cells continuously produce bile, containing bile salts and bile pigments (like bilirubin, from breakdown of haemoglobin). Bile is stored/concentrated in the gallbladder and released into the duodenum, where its bile salts emulsify large fat globules into smaller droplets, aiding fat digestion and absorption, and also help absorb fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K).
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Carbohydrate metabolism: the liver stores excess glucose as glycogen (glycogenesis) after a meal, and breaks glycogen back down into glucose (glycogenolysis) when blood sugar falls, helping maintain stable blood glucose levels; it can also make new glucose from non-carbohydrate sources (gluconeogenesis).
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Protein metabolism: the liver synthesises important plasma proteins (such as albumin and clotting factors like fibrinogen and prothrombin), and carries out deamination of excess amino acids.
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Detoxification and excretion: the liver converts the highly toxic ammonia produced by deamination into the much less toxic urea (via the ornithine/urea cycle) for safe excretion by the kidneys; it also detoxifies drugs, alcohol, and other harmful substances absorbed from the gut.
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Fat metabolism: the liver is involved in the synthesis and breakdown of fats and cholesterol, and in the formation of lipoproteins that transport fats in blood.
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