When treating with medicinal plants, we aim to influence the metabolic function of the liver, the disorder of which entails a number of dangerous disorders, so it is necessary to dwell somewhat on this organ.
The liver, as it is known, in the human body performs a very complex and multifaceted function, its influence on the whole body, on the digestion of bile secreted into the intestine, the ability to assimilate and destroy, to process substances from the intestine, spleen and other organs and tissues, to synthesize new substances from them, its huge compensatory and regenerative ability play an important role in the treatment of many diseases.
Very characteristic structure of the liver, its hepatic lobules, consisting of epithelial cells, in which complex physiological processes are carried out, actively affecting the interstitial metabolism. Biliary tracts, capillary endothelium can actively contract and regulate absorption, filter and secrete various substances, Kupffer cells with their outgrowths can wedge between hepatic epithelial cells, extend into the lumen of biliary capillaries, and the smallest blood pathways inside the lobule can be intermediaries between blood and biliary channels.
The presence of tissue fluid between Kupffer cells and hepatic epithelium and the fact that certain substances, coming with the blood in the sinusoids are captured by Kupffer cells due to their phagocytic properties and enter the interstitial gaps, in hepatic cells, and sometimes in the biliary capillaries - all this once again convinces that when prescribing drugs, especially chemical, first of all should take into account the state of the liver.
The liver is capable of performing a number of functions, indicating its indispensable role in metabolism. Let us briefly discuss the biliary function of the liver. Food intake affects the process of biliary secretion, food stimuli act on the mechanism that empties the gallbladder, and partly on the hepatic cells, mobilizing ready bile and stimulating its formation, as well as the products of digestion of proteins, fats; carbohydrates reduce the flow of bile into the intestine.
The process of bile secretion is affected by physical work, increased oxygen delivery, being outdoors improves the blood supply to the liver.
In the liver occurs the formation of bilirubin, the transition of urobilin to urobilin bodies is made in the large intestine with the participation of microorganisms by splitting oxygen. The better bowel emptying occurs, the more stercobilin is excreted with feces. In phytotherapy we also pay attention to this fact, and the reader can read our point of view in more detail in the section on fiber.
Liver cells, in addition to bilirubin, secrete bile acids, thanks to which the bile in the intestine contributes to the digestion of fat, its emulsification, activates pancreatic lipase, improves digestion, etc. д.
The liver, along with other organs and tissues, is actively involved in the synthesis of cholesterol, phospholipids and fatty acids. Most lipoids come from food. The synthesis of cholesterol molecule in the body is a very complex process that requires vitamin A (carotene), pantothenic acid and ascorbic acid. The liver, in addition to forming cholesterol, is able to excrete it with bile, although to a lesser extent than the intestines.
The formation of sugar by the liver is an intrasecretory function of the liver that is regulated by the central nervous system. Fat metabolism is regulated by endocrine-nervous factors. The function of absorption of lactic acid from the blood and its reconversion into glycogen, protein-nitrogen function, as well as the liver's participation in the process of blood coagulation, as it produces prothrombin, globulin, albumin and amino acids, and the important biochemical process of urea formation from protein breakdown products, plays an important role.
The liver has the ability to concentrate vitamins, especially vitamin A, which in it is formed from carotenes and can be absorbed in the intestine only in the presence of fat (therefore, when prescribing such foods as carrots, pumpkin, apricots, etc.), the liver is not able to concentrate vitamins, especially vitamin A, which is formed from carotenes and can be absorbed in the intestine only in the presence of fat., it is recommended to consume fat). But it should be remembered that the introduction of vitamin A in the blood and bile increases the amount of cholesterol, and excess vitamin Bь depot which serves as a liver, leads to its obesity.
All these essential functions in metabolism, physiological state of the liver are provided by ascorbic acid - vitamin C. The liver influences K-vitamin metabolism, quantitative fluctuations of mineral salts in the blood and the ratio of ions, water-salt metabolism, participates in the assimilation of iron, entered into the body with food and medicinal substances, and transforms it into compounds suitable for erythropoiesis.
The liver is able to absorb toxic substances, neutralize them, and partially neutralize and poisonous metals and metalloids like mercury, lead, and arsenic by binding them with nucleoproteins. Some pharmacologic agents may also be retained in the liver and partially broken down.
The liver tissue traps and kills some microorganisms and neutralizes toxins, which, due to hepatic glycogen, can bind in the liver and become inactive.
The liver is in a certain dependence on the state of the central and autonomic nervous system due to the penetration of nerve endings into the liver lobules, where they disintegrate into fibers intertwining hepatic cells.
The role of the liver in the human body is devoted to a lot of special scientific works, with which the reader can get acquainted in more detail, but we consider it necessary to pay special attention to the complex and multifaceted participation in its metabolism, because in phytotherapy of certain diseases, we seek first of all to influence the metabolism by affecting the liver..
