Question

Write the role of liver in excretion.

Answer 1

Hint: Liver is the largest organ of the human body.
It is placed on the right side of the belly.
It is reddish-brown in color.
It consists of two lobes: right lobe and left lobe.
Cells of liver are known as hepatocytes.

Complete answer:
In order to solve the question we need to understand what is excretion and how the liver plays a major role in excretion.
Excretion is defined as the process of removal of waste & waste products and excess of water from the body.
Skin, large intestine, kidney, liver are the organs that help in excretion. All these organs together make up the excretory system.

Functions of liver are:
1. Bile production and its excretion.
2. Excretion of bilirubin, cholesterol, hormones.
3. Helps in the metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates.
4. Helps in activation of enzymes.
5. It stores glycogen, vitamins and minerals.
6. It synthesizes the plasma proteins like albumin and clotting factors.
7. Glycogenesis (glucose to glycogen) and Glycogenolysis (glycogen to glucose) occur in the liver.

Role of liver in excretion:
- Liver converts the amino acids present in blood into ammonia and pyruvic acid.
- Pyruvic acid gets oxidized to release energy and ammonia gets converted into urea.
- Kidney helps in the filtration of the urea and urea gets excreted in the form of urine.
- Liver excretes bilirubin which is a by-product of hemoglobin catabolism.
- Bile gets excreted in the small intestine and excreted in the form of faeces by the large intestine.

Note: Diseases of liver are:
- Jaundice.
- Hepatitis.
- Cirrhosis of liver
- Variceal bleeding.
- Liver cancer.
Disease is caused by drugs, poisons and excess intake of alcohol. If there is disease in the liver, the common symptom is sweat becomes yellowish in colour. Which is due to Hepatitis-B.