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Bile (from Latin bilis), or gall, is a yellow-green/misty green fluid produced by the liver of most vertebrates that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In humans, bile is primarily composed of water , is produced continuously by the liver, and is stored and concentrated in the gallbladder .
The main functions of the gallbladder are to store and concentrate bile, also called gall, needed for the digestion of fats in food. Produced by the liver, bile flows through small vessels into the larger hepatic ducts and ultimately through the cystic duct (parts of the biliary tree) into the gallbladder, where it is stored. At any one time ...
The liver is also an accessory digestive organ that produces bile, an alkaline fluid containing cholesterol and bile acids, which emulsifies and aids the breakdown of dietary fat. The gallbladder , a small hollow pouch that sits just under the right lobe of liver, stores and concentrates the bile produced by the liver, which is later excreted ...
Bile is secreted by the liver into small ducts that join to form the common hepatic duct. [4] Between meals, secreted bile is stored in the gallbladder. [5] During a meal, the bile is secreted into the duodenum (part of the small intestine) to rid the body of waste stored in the bile as well as aid in the absorption of dietary fats and oils. [5]
Bile produced by the liver is made up of water (97%), bile salts, mucus and pigments, 1% fats and inorganic salts. [25] Bilirubin is its major pigment. Bile acts partly as a surfactant which lowers the surface tension between either two liquids or a solid and a liquid and helps to emulsify the fats in the chyme.
Bile is formed of three elements: bile salts, bilirubin and cholesterol. Bilirubin is a waste product of the breakdown of hemoglobin. The cholesterol present is secreted with the feces. The bile salt component is an active non-enzymatic substance that facilitates fat absorption by helping it to form an emulsion with water due to its amphoteric ...
It is primarily a processing and detoxifying organ, [7] filtering blood and extracting or breaking down waste and toxins from the bloodstream. [8] The gallbladder is located on the undersurface of the right lobe of the liver. [9] It produces bile, which is used to help process fats in the body. [9] Humans can live without the gallbladder. [10]
Bile acid synthesis occurs in liver cells, which synthesize primary bile acids (cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid in humans) via cytochrome P450-mediated oxidation of cholesterol in a multi-step process. Approximately 600 mg of bile salts are synthesized daily to replace bile acids lost in the feces, although, as described below, much ...