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Human Body
91
Bile-ducts and Gall-bladder
Production of bile is only ore of the many functions of the liver cells. Bile contains 86% water, bile-salts, bilepigments and cholesterol etc. It aids in the emulsification and digestion of fats.
The ducts carrying the bile secreted by the liver to the gall-bladder are called bile-ducts. Bile is a thick, darkgreen, alkaline digestive juice Attached to the lower surface of the liver is a small blind pear-shaped pouch called the gall-bladder which receives, stores and concentrates bile. The gall-bladder is far too small to hold the 1000 cc of bile produced daily by the liver, so it has the ability to concentrate the bile up to 20 times. When required, bile from the gall-bladder passes ipto duodenum together with the pancreatic juices through a common duct. Bile-salts are responsible for breaking globules of fats into tiny droplets.
The bile-salts are not lost alter fulfilling their role in the digestive procsss, but are carried back to the liver to be resecreted into the bile. This illustrates the high efficiency of the system which recycles the very small amount (3 to 4 gms) of bile-salts present in the adult, Functions of Liver
Liver is the largest chemical factory in the body, and has at least five hundred known functions. It is an exocrine
gland. 1
All the absorbed nutrients from digestion pass through this biochemical factory.
The cells of the liver contain a variety of enzymes for many chemical processes, and they are also the vital stores of essential material. The metabolism of each of the three groups of food-material, viz., carbohydrates, fats and proteins takes place in the liver.
1. Glands producing secretions, which drain out through ducts and have an effect only near the area where they are released, are called exocrine (exo=outside), in contrast to endocrine (cado=inside) or ductless glands manufacturing hormones which pass directly into the blood-stream, circulate all over the body and at places far from where they are secreted. For further details, see later section.
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