Liver Diseases & Hepatology

Liver and Biliary

The body's largest gland, the liver, conducts out a wide range of essential metabolic and excretory processes. The liver is moreover the first place where ingested nutrients and other chemicals entering via the gastrointestinal tract, such as medications and bacterial metabolites, are processed by the body because of its circulatory proximity to the absorptive surface of the gastrointestinal tract. As a result, the liver serves as a gatekeeper that may process beneficial compounds while detoxifying potentially harmful compounds that are ingested, such as hazardous xenobiotics.