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Because the liver is important for making proteins used in blood clotting, coagulation-related studies are often carried out, especially the prothrombin time. In people with fatty liver with associated inflammatory injury (steatohepatitis) blood tests are usually used to rule out certain types of viral hepatitis and autoimmune diseases.
In vitro model systems based on hepatocytes have been of great help to better understand the role of hepatocytes in (patho)physiological processes of the liver. In addition, pharmaceutical industry has heavily relied on the use of hepatocytes in suspension or culture to explore mechanisms of drug metabolism and even predict in vivo drug metabolism.
In histology (microscopic anatomy), the lobules of liver, or hepatic lobules, are small divisions of the liver defined at the microscopic scale. The hepatic lobule is a building block of the liver tissue, consisting of portal triads, hepatocytes arranged in linear cords between a capillary network, and a central vein.
Primary liver cancer most commonly manifests as hepatocellular carcinoma or cholangiocarcinoma; rarer forms include angiosarcoma and hemangiosarcoma of the liver. (Many liver malignancies are secondary lesions that have metastasized from primary cancers in the gastrointestinal tract and other organs, such as the kidneys, lungs.) [ 16 ]
The rest comes from the partially deoxygenated blood from the portal vein. The liver consumes about 20% of the total body oxygen when at rest. That is why the total liver blood flow is quite high, at about 1 litre a minute and up to two litres a minute. That is on average one fourth of the average cardiac output at rest.
The main liver cells are called hepatocytes; however, there are other cells that can be observed in a liver sample such as Kupffer cells (macrophages). [2] The liver is the biggest gland of the body. It has a wide variety of functions that range from the destruction of old blood cells to the control of the whole metabolism of macromolecules. [3]
Liver regeneration is the process by which the liver is able to replace damaged or lost liver tissue. The liver is the only visceral organ with the capacity to regenerate. [1] [2] The liver can regenerate after partial hepatectomy or injury due to hepatotoxic agents such as certain medications, toxins, or chemicals. [3]
Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is an acute condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced with scar tissue and regenerative nodules as a result of chronic liver disease.