PHY 503: DIGESTIVE FUNCTIONS TEST 2 QUESTIONS WITH
COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
What are the major functions of the liver? -- Answer ✔✔ filtration and storage of blood,
metabolism of nutrients, formation of bile, storage of vitamins and iron, formation of
coagulation factors
Why do liver disease or vitamin K deficiency lead to bleeding abnormalities? -- Answer
✔✔ liver requires vitamin K to synthesize clotting factors
What percentage of hepatic blood supply comes from the hepatic artery and what
percentage from the portal vein? -- Answer ✔✔ 25% from hepatic artery, 75% from
portal vein
What are sinusoids? -- Answer ✔✔ leaky capillaries in the liver that allow the organ to
filter blood and produce lymph
What happens if blood pressure in the liver sinusoids is elevated? -- Answer ✔✔ lymph
production will increase
What is ascites? -- Answer ✔✔ accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity caused by
increased liver lymph production due to elevated portal vein pressure
What are Kupffer cells? -- Answer ✔✔ resident liver phagocytes that engulf and remove
microbes and particulates from the blood
What are the main signals for elevating hepatic output of glucose? -- Answer ✔✔
increase in portal vein glucagon and decrease in insulin
, What happens to hepatic glucose output if SNS innervation to the liver is severed? --
Answer ✔✔ it does not have any effect, you will still get hepatic glucose output
What is the role of the liver in metabolism of ammonia? -- Answer ✔✔ converts
ammonia to urea, which can be excreted by the kidneys
What happens if ammonia is not converted to urea by the liver? -- Answer ✔✔ hepatic
encephalopathy
What is cirrhosis? -- Answer ✔✔ chronic liver disease in which normal liver cells are
damaged and replaced by scar tissue, which leads to clotting problems, jaundice, and
peripheral edema/ascites
How does alcohol abuse lead to cirrhosis? -- Answer ✔✔ causes fat accumulation within
hepatocytes, which results in steatohepatitis that leads to inflammation and scarring
How does cirrhosis cause ascites? -- Answer ✔✔ loss of functional hepatocytes means
less production of albumin and lower plasma colloid osmotic pressure; scar tissue
increases portal vein pressure and resistance to blood flow, promoting fluid filtration
from the blood to the tissues; body then stimulates RAAS to try and raise blood volume
How is bilirubin excreted in the urine and stool? -- Answer ✔✔ 1) in the intestine,
about half of conjugated bilirubin is converted to the highly soluble urobilinogen form
2) some urobilinogen is reabsorbed, and most is then re-excreted by the liver back into
the gut
3) oxidation of urobilinogen converts it to urobilin, which is excreted in urine and gives
it yellow color
4) urobilinogen can also be oxidized to stercobilin, which is excreted in stool and makes
it brown
What is bilirubin? -- Answer ✔✔ breakdown product of hemoglobin
How does bilirubin get to the liver? -- Answer ✔✔ free bilirubin combines with albumin
in the plasma and is transported through the blood and interstitial fluid, and taken up by
hepatocytes as blood flows through the liver
COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
What are the major functions of the liver? -- Answer ✔✔ filtration and storage of blood,
metabolism of nutrients, formation of bile, storage of vitamins and iron, formation of
coagulation factors
Why do liver disease or vitamin K deficiency lead to bleeding abnormalities? -- Answer
✔✔ liver requires vitamin K to synthesize clotting factors
What percentage of hepatic blood supply comes from the hepatic artery and what
percentage from the portal vein? -- Answer ✔✔ 25% from hepatic artery, 75% from
portal vein
What are sinusoids? -- Answer ✔✔ leaky capillaries in the liver that allow the organ to
filter blood and produce lymph
What happens if blood pressure in the liver sinusoids is elevated? -- Answer ✔✔ lymph
production will increase
What is ascites? -- Answer ✔✔ accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity caused by
increased liver lymph production due to elevated portal vein pressure
What are Kupffer cells? -- Answer ✔✔ resident liver phagocytes that engulf and remove
microbes and particulates from the blood
What are the main signals for elevating hepatic output of glucose? -- Answer ✔✔
increase in portal vein glucagon and decrease in insulin
, What happens to hepatic glucose output if SNS innervation to the liver is severed? --
Answer ✔✔ it does not have any effect, you will still get hepatic glucose output
What is the role of the liver in metabolism of ammonia? -- Answer ✔✔ converts
ammonia to urea, which can be excreted by the kidneys
What happens if ammonia is not converted to urea by the liver? -- Answer ✔✔ hepatic
encephalopathy
What is cirrhosis? -- Answer ✔✔ chronic liver disease in which normal liver cells are
damaged and replaced by scar tissue, which leads to clotting problems, jaundice, and
peripheral edema/ascites
How does alcohol abuse lead to cirrhosis? -- Answer ✔✔ causes fat accumulation within
hepatocytes, which results in steatohepatitis that leads to inflammation and scarring
How does cirrhosis cause ascites? -- Answer ✔✔ loss of functional hepatocytes means
less production of albumin and lower plasma colloid osmotic pressure; scar tissue
increases portal vein pressure and resistance to blood flow, promoting fluid filtration
from the blood to the tissues; body then stimulates RAAS to try and raise blood volume
How is bilirubin excreted in the urine and stool? -- Answer ✔✔ 1) in the intestine,
about half of conjugated bilirubin is converted to the highly soluble urobilinogen form
2) some urobilinogen is reabsorbed, and most is then re-excreted by the liver back into
the gut
3) oxidation of urobilinogen converts it to urobilin, which is excreted in urine and gives
it yellow color
4) urobilinogen can also be oxidized to stercobilin, which is excreted in stool and makes
it brown
What is bilirubin? -- Answer ✔✔ breakdown product of hemoglobin
How does bilirubin get to the liver? -- Answer ✔✔ free bilirubin combines with albumin
in the plasma and is transported through the blood and interstitial fluid, and taken up by
hepatocytes as blood flows through the liver
