The liver is the largest internal organ located in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. It performs many vital functions including regulating biochemical processes, storing important nutrients, and purifying the blood by breaking down toxins and transforming substances like ammonia and drugs. Liver disease can result from viral infections like hepatitis, toxicity from alcohol or drugs, and fatty liver disease. Supplements that support liver function include antioxidants, lipotropic agents, and B vitamins which help the liver detoxify and metabolize compounds.

1. •The liver is the largest internal organ in the body
• Weighing about 1.5 kg and accounting for roughly 2.5%
of the total body weight
•It is reddish brown in color from the rich supply of blood
flowing through it
•The liver is necessary for survival; there is currently no
way to compensate for the absence of liver function
LIVER

2. LIVER
•Liver is located in right upper quadrant of the abdomen,
resting just below the diaphram
•The liver lies to the right of the stomach and overlies
the gall bladder
•Liver is divided into 4 lobes;
- Two large (left and right lobe)
- Two small (caudate and quadrate)
•The liver is composed of numerous functional units
called lobules

4. • Basic functional unit of liver is LIVER LOBULE
• There are approximately 100,000 lobules in the liver
• Within each lobule, epithelial cells called HEPATOCYTE
are arranged in layers
•Hepatocytes are called liver cells, in which all the
metabolic processes and storage of materials take place
•Hepatic sinusoids are spaces that lie between groups of
layers
Functional unit of Liver

6. PHYSIOLOGY OF LIVER
Liver is often referred as “Chemical Factory”
of the body. It has many complex functions.
The body depends on liver to perform a
number of vital functions, and they can be
divided into three basic categories.
1. Regulations, synthesis and secretion
2. Storage
3. Purification, transformation and
clearance.

7. STORAGE Liver is designed to store
important substances such as:
· Glucose (in the form of Glycogen)
· Fat soluble vitamins (vit.A,D,E & K)
· Vitamin B12
· Folate
· Minerals (copper & iron)

8. PURIFICATION, TRANSFORMATION AND
CLEARANCE
The liver removes harmful substances from the
blood and then breaks them down or transform
them into less harmful compounds. In addition,
the liver metabolizes most hormones and
ingested drugs to either more or less active
products.

9. a) Ammonia
The liver converts ammonia to urea, which is
excreted into the urine by the kidneys. In
severe liver disease, ammonia accumulates
in the blood because of both decreased blood
clearance and decreased ability to form urea.
Elevated ammonia levels can be toxic,
especially to the brain.

10. d) Drugs
Nearly all drugs are modified or degraded in
the liver. In particular, oral drugs are absorbed
by the gut and transported via the portal
circulation to the liver. In the liver, drugs may
undergo first pass metabolism, a process in
which they are modified, activated, or
inactivated before they enter the systemic
circulation, or they may be left unchanged.

11. In patients with liver disease, drug
detoxification and excretion may be
dangerously altered, resulting in drug
concentrations that are too low or too high or
the production of toxic drug metabolites.
These patients may need lower dose of the
drug.
a) Toxins
Liver is generally responsible for detoxifying
chemical agents and poisons, whether
ingested or inhaled.

13. IMPORTANCE OF LIVER

14. Enhancing detoxification primarily involves
promoting improved liver function. The liver
is constantly bombarded with toxic
chemicals, both those produced internally
and those coming from the environment.
The liver plays several roles in
detoxification:
- It filters blood to remove large toxins.
- Synthesizes and secretes bile.
- Enzymatically disassembles unwanted
chemicals.

15. DISEASE
CONCEPT

16. LIVER DISEASES
HHEPATITIS
Hepatitis is an inflammatory disease of the liver. The various
forms of hepatitis can be classified as:
1. Acute viral hepatitis
2. Toxic and Drug induced hepatitis
3. Chronic hepatitis

17. 1) ACUTE VIRAL HEPATITIS
Acute viral hepatitis is a systemic infection
affecting the liver predominantly. Almost all
cases of acute viral hepatitis are caused by
one of the five agents:
i. Hepatitis A virus (HAV)
ii. Hepatitis B virus (HBV)
iii. Hepatitis C virus (HCV)
iv. Hepatitis D virus (HDV)
v. Hepatitis E virus (HEV)

18. FATTY LIVER
It is slight or moderate enlargement of liver due to a
diffuse accumulation of neutral fat (triglycerides) in
hepatocytes. This condition is frequently seen in
· Alcoholism
· Diabetes, Insulin Resistance
· Obesity
· Drugs (methotrexate, aspirin)
· Total parenteral nutrition
Acute fatty liver is caused by a number of
hepatotoxins and is frequently accompanied by
signs and symptoms of liver failure.

19. SUPPLEMENTS TO SUPPORT THE LIVER
1. MULTIPLE VITAMINS & MINERALS
Antioxidant vitamins like vitamin E, Vitamin C,
beta-carotene are obviously quite important in
protecting the liver from damage, as well as
helping in detoxification mechanism.
Nutrients like B. Complex, calcium and trace
minerals are critical in the elimination of heavy
metals and other toxic compounds from the
body.

20. 2. LIPOTROPIC AGENTS:
Lipotropic agents are compounds, which acts on fat
metabolism, thus decrease the deposits of fat in the
liver. They produce “decongesting” effect on the
liver and promote improved liver function and fat
metabolism.
Formulas containing Lipotropic agents are very
useful in enhancing detoxification reactions and
other liver functions. Lipotropic formulas have
been used for a wide variety of conditions including
a number of liver disorders including hepatitis,
cirrhosis and chemical induced, liver disease.
Important Lipotropic nutrients are METHIONINE,
CHOLINE, BETAINE, FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B12 & B6.