A capillary is a small blood vessel, from 5 to 10 micrometres in diameter, and is part of the microcirculation system. Capillaries are microvessels and the smallest blood vessels in the body. They are composed of only the tunica intima, consisting of a thin wall of simple squamous endothelial cells. They are the site of the exchange of many substances from the surrounding interstitial fluid, and they convey blood from the smallest branches of the arteries (arterioles) to those of the veins (venules). Other substances which cross capillaries include water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, urea, glucose, uric acid, lactic acid and creatinine. Lymph capillaries connect with larger lymph vessels to drain lymphatic fluid collected in microcirculation.
Alcoholic liver disease (ALD), also called alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD), is a term that encompasses the liver manifestations of alcohol overconsumption, including fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, and chronic hepatitis with liver fibrosis or cirrhosis.
A hepatocyte is a cell of the main parenchymal tissue of the liver. Hepatocytes make up 80% of the liver's mass. These cells are involved in:
Alcoholic hepatitis is hepatitis due to excessive intake of alcohol. Patients typically have a history of at least 10 years of heavy alcohol intake, typically 8–10 drinks per day. It is usually found in association with fatty liver, an early stage of alcoholic liver disease, and may contribute to the progression of fibrosis, leading to cirrhosis. Symptoms may present acutely after a large amount of alcoholic intake in a short time period, or after years of excess alcohol intake. Signs and symptoms of alcoholic hepatitis include jaundice, ascites, fatigue and hepatic encephalopathy. Mild cases are self-limiting, but severe cases have a high risk of death. Severity in alcoholic hepatitis is determined several clinical prediction models such as the Maddrey's Discriminant Function and the MELD score.
Kupffer cells, also known as stellate macrophages and Kupffer–Browicz cells, are specialized cells localized in the liver within the lumen of the liver sinusoids and are adhesive to their endothelial cells which make up the blood vessel walls. Kupffer cells comprise the largest population of tissue-resident macrophages in the body. Gut bacteria, bacterial endotoxins, and microbial debris transported to the liver from the gastrointestinal tract via the portal vein will first come in contact with Kupffer cells, the first immune cells in the liver. It is because of this that any change to Kupffer cell functions can be connected to various liver diseases such as alcoholic liver disease, viral hepatitis, intrahepatic cholestasis, steatohepatitis, activation or rejection of the liver during liver transplantation and liver fibrosis. They form part of the mononuclear phagocyte system.
The Starling principle holds that extracellular fluid movements between blood and tissues are determined by differences in hydrostatic pressure and colloid osmotic (oncotic) pressure between plasma inside microvessels and interstitial fluid outside them. The Starling Equation, proposed many years after the death of Starling, describes that relationship in mathematical form and can be applied to many biological and non-biological semipermeable membranes. The classic Starling principle and the equation that describes it have in recent years been revised and extended.
Cholestasis is a condition where the flow of bile from the liver to the duodenum is impaired. The two basic distinctions are:
A bile canaliculus is a thin tube that collects bile secreted by hepatocytes. The bile canaliculi empty into a series of progressively larger bile ductules and ducts, which eventually become common hepatic duct. The bile canaliculi empty directly into the canals of Hering.
The perisinusoidal space is a location in the liver between a hepatocyte and a sinusoid. It contains the blood plasma. Microvilli of hepatocytes extend into this space, allowing proteins and other plasma components from the sinusoids to be absorbed by the hepatocytes. Fenestration and discontinuity of the endothelium facilitates this transport. This space may be obliterated in liver disease, leading to decreased uptake by hepatocytes of nutrients and wastes such as bilirubin.
In histology, 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 a portal triad, hepatocytes arranged in linear cords between a capillary network, and a central vein.
Peliosis hepatis is an uncommon vascular condition characterised by multiple, randomly distributed, blood-filled cavities throughout the liver. The size of the cavities usually ranges between a few millimetres and 3 cm in diameter. In the past, it was a mere histological curiosity occasionally found at autopsies, but has been increasingly recognised with wide-ranging conditions from AIDS to the use of anabolic steroids. It also occasionally affects spleen, lymph nodes, lungs, kidneys, adrenal glands, bone marrow, and other parts of gastrointestinal tract.
Hepatic stellate cells (HSC), also known as perisinusoidal cells or Ito cells, are pericytes found in the perisinusoidal space of the liver, also known as the space of Disse. The stellate cell is the major cell type involved in liver fibrosis, which is the formation of scar tissue in response to liver damage, in addition these cells store and concentrate vitamin A.
Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) or veno-occlusive disease with immunodeficiency is a potentially life-threatening condition in which some of the small veins in the liver are obstructed. It is a complication of high-dose chemotherapy given before a bone marrow transplant and/or excessive exposure to hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. It is classically marked by weight gain due to fluid retention, increased liver size, and raised levels of bilirubin in the blood. The name sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) is preferred if hepatic veno-occlusive disease happens as a result of chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation.
The liver is a major metabolic organ only found in vertebrate animals, which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it is located in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, below the diaphragm and mostly shielded by the lower right rib cage. Its other metabolic roles include carbohydrate metabolism, the production of hormones, conversion and storage of nutrients such as glucose and glycogen, and the decomposition of red blood cells.
In anatomy the term "reticuloendothelial system", often associated nowadays with the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS), was employed by the beginning of the 20th century to denote a system of specialised cells that effectively clear colloidal vital stains from the blood circulation. The term is still used today, but its meaning has changed over the years, and is used inconsistently in present-day literature. Although RES is commonly associated exclusively with macrophages, recent research has revealed that the cells that accumulate intravenously administered vital stain belong to a highly specialised group of cells called scavenger endothelial cells (SECs), that are not macrophages.
Microvasculature comprises the microvessels – venules and capillaries of the microcirculation, with a maximum average diameter of 0.3 millimeters. As the vessels decrease in size, they increase their surface-area-to-volume ratio. This allows surface properties to play a significant role in the function of the vessel.
Liver cytology is the branch of cytology that studies the liver cells and its functions. The liver is a vital organ, in charge of almost all the body’s metabolism. Main liver cells are hepatocytes, Kupffer cells, and hepatic stellate cells; each one with a specific function.
Centrilobular necrosis (CN) is a nonspecific histopathological observation brought on by hepatotoxins like acetaminophen (paracetamol), thioacetamide, tetrachloride, cardiac hepatopathy due to acute right sided cardiac failure, and congestive hepatic injury in veno‐occlusive disease, or hypoxic injury due to ischemia. Centrilobular necrosis can also be found in those with autoimmune hepatitis. Centrilobular necrosis is characterized by necrotic hepatocytes completely encircling the central vein.
Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) form the lining of the smallest blood vessels in the liver, also called the hepatic sinusoids. LSECs are highly specialized endothelial cells with characteristic morphology and function. They constitute an important part of the reticuloendothelial system (RES).
The term scavenger endothelial cell (SEC) was initially coined to describe a specialized sub-group of endothelial cells in vertebrates that express a remarkably high blood clearance activity. The term SEC has now been adopted by several scientists.
