The liver is a critical hub for numerous physiological processes. These include macronutrient metabolism, blood volume regulation, immune system support, endocrine control of growth signalling pathways, lipid and cholesterol homeostasis, and the breakdown of xenobiotic compounds, including many current drugs.
Processing, partitioning, and metabolism of macronutrients provide the energy needed to drive the aforementioned processes and are therefore among the liver's most critical functions.
Moreover, the liver's capacities to store glucose in the form of glycogen, with feeding, and assemble glucose via the gluconeogenic pathway, in response to fasting, are critical. The liver oxidizes lipids, but can also package excess lipid for secretion to and storage in other tissues, such as adipose.
Finally, the liver is a major handler of protein and amino acid metabolism as it is responsible for the majority of proteins secreted in the blood (whether based on mass or range of unique proteins), the processing of amino acids for energy, and disposal of nitrogenous waste from protein degradation in the form of urea metabolism
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