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Abstract Liver is a vital organ only found in vertebrates (Elias and Bengelsdorf, 1952). In humans, it is located in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen, below the diaphragm. It is a reddish-brown wedge-shaped organ with eghit lobes of unequal size and shape. A human liver normally weighs 1.44–1.66 kg (3.2–3.7 lb) and has a width of about 15 cm. It is both the heaviest internal organ and the largest gland in the human body. Liver is connected to two large blood vessels: the hepatic artery and the portal vein. The hepatic artery carries oxygen-rich blood from the aorta, whereas the portal vein carries blood rich in digested nutrients from the entire gastrointestinal tract and also from the spleen and pancreas. These blood vessels subdivide into small capillaries known as liver sinusoids, which then lead to a lobule. Lobules are the functional units of the liver. Each lobule is made up of millions of hepatic cells (hepatocytes) which are the basic metabolic cells. The lobules are held together by a fine dense irregular fibroelastic connective tissue layer which extends into the structure of the liver, by accompanying the vessels (veins and arteries), ducts and nerves through the hepatic portal, as a fibrous capsule called Glisson’s capsule. The whole surface of the liver is covered in a serous coat derived from peritoneum and this has an inner fibrous coat (Glisson’s capsule) to which it is firmly adhered (Inderbir et al., 2008. |