2025-2026
About the liver - Answers liver is the largest gland of the body and manufactures, stores, alters,
and excretes a large number of substances involved in metabolism.
Where does the blood come from that supplies the liver? - Answers The portal vein-rich in
nutrients (80%) and hepatic artery- rich in oxygen and drains the liver.
What does the liver produce and where is it stored? - Answers bile and is stored in the
gallbladder
Function of the liver - Answers glucose, ammonia conversion, protein, fat, drug metabolism,
vitamin & iron storage, bile formation, bilirubin excretion
Glucose metabolism in liver - Answers after a meal, the liver takes glucose form the portal blood
and convert it to glycogen and stores it away.
ammonia conversion - Answers produced by intestinal bacteria is also removed from portal
blood and converted to urea
Ammonia build up - Answers can be toxic if liver is not functioning properly.
Protein metabolism - Answers liver synthesizes almost ALL plasma proteins, including; albumin
and blood clotting factors
Vitamin K - Answers required by the liver for some clotting factors (Prothrombin)
Vitamin ____makes you _________________ and without you _______________ in your clotting
factors you will bleed. - Answers K, prothrombin, prothrombin
Fat metabolism - Answers Liver breaks down fatty acids for production of energy and into
ketone bodies.
What vitamins are stored in large amounts in the liver? - Answers A, B, D, and B-complex, Iron
and Copper are also stored in the liver.
Bile formed by hepatocytes (liver cells) in the liver is collected where? - Answers Canaculi and
bile ducts
Bile is stored in the _____ and emptied into the ______ via the _____ _______. - Answers Gallbladder,
intestine, bile duct
Bile helps excrete ______ and ides in digestion by ________ fats. - Answers Bilirubin, emulsifying
The _______ is responsible for helping you get rid of ______. - Answers Liver, bilirubin
What age related change takes place with the liver? - Answers Size and weight, decreased in
, total blood flow. Proportional change with body change.
What does a health history assessment focus on with a pt with liver problems? - Answers
Previous exposures to hepatotoxic substances or infectious agents (occupation, alcohol or drug
use, medication that affect the liver, lifestyle behaviors). Evaluate past medical history to ID risk
factors for development of liver disease.(psych and family hx of alcohol abuse and gallstones)
What are some systems that suggest liver disease? - Answers Jaundice, malaise, weakness,
fatigue, pruritus (itching-build of bile salts), abdominal pain, fever, anorexia, weight gain, edema,
increasing abdominal girth, hematemesis, melena, hematochezia (passage of bloody stools),
easy bruising, changes in mental acuity, personality changes, sleep disturbances, and decreased
libido in men.
What happens to a pt when unable to filter ammonia out of their blood? - Answers become
confused
Endocrine assessment - Answers men should be assessed for unilateral or bilateral
gynaecomastia (breast enlargement), testicular atrophy (shrinking), estrogen and
glucocorticoids circulation increased
Gastrointestinal (GI) assessment - Answers obesity, abd fluid, liver size, and tenderness, abd
pain, change in appetite or bowel patterns (diarrhea, clay color, or bleeding) esophageal varices,
fetor hepaticus, small nodular liver, vomiting, malnutrition, gallstones, ascities, hemorrhoidal
varices, gastritis, hepatomegaly)
Cardiac assessment - Answers Check for any dysrhythmias, fatigue, peripheral edema, portal
hypertension, spider angiomas
Renal assessment - Answers hepatorenal syndrome, increased urine bilirubin
hepatorenal syndrome - Answers where the pt goes into kidney failure due to "underfilling" of
the kidneys with blood because of liver disease.
Liver function tests - Answers ALT, AST, GGT or GGTP, PT, serum ammonia levels, and bilirubin
levels
ALT (alanine aminotransferase) - Answers increase primarily in liver disorders and may be used
to monitor the course of hepatitis or cirrhosis or the effects of treatments that are toxic to the
liver
AST (aspartate aminotransferase) - Answers AST-present in tissues that have high metabolic
activity, therefore level may be increased if theres is damage to or death of tissues of organs,
such as heart , liver, skeletal muscle or kidney.
AST - Answers is not specific to the liver, but may be elevated in cirrhosis, hepatitis, and liver
cancer.