Q.What are the functions of liver?

The liver is the largest gland in the human body and performs a wide range of vital functions:

• Bile secretion: Produces bile containing bile salts (which emulsify fats, aiding digestion and absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins) and bile pigments (bilirubin, biliverdin — an excretory route for haemoglobin breakdown products and excess cholesterol).
• Carbohydrate metabolism: Stores glucose as glycogen (glycogenesis) when blood glucose is high, and breaks glycogen back down to glucose (glycogenolysis) when blood glucose falls, helping maintain a steady blood glucose level.
• Detoxification: Breaks down and neutralises many drugs, alcohol, and other harmful/toxic substances absorbed from the gut or circulating in the blood.
• Protein/amino acid metabolism: Carries out deamination of excess amino acids and converts the resulting toxic ammonia into urea (via the ornithine cycle) for safe excretion by the kidneys.
• Plasma protein synthesis: Synthesises major blood plasma proteins such as albumin, globulins, and clotting factors like fibrinogen and prothrombin.
• Storage: Stores certain vitamins (notably A, D and B12) and minerals such as iron, releasing them into circulation as needed. …

Group the liver's functions by category — digestive (bile), metabolic (glycogen storage, deamination/urea formation, fat metabolism), synthetic (plasma proteins), storage (vitamins/iron), and protective (det …

• Naming only bile secretion and forgetting the liver's many non-digestive roles (glycogen storage, detoxification, urea formation, plasma protein synthesis). …