Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
pages 1196
| the center of each polygonal space presenting a minute aperture, the mouth of an intralobular vein (Fig. 1089). |
| Microscopic Appearance (Fig. 1092).—Each lobule consists of a mass of cells, hepatic cells, arranged in irregular radiating columns between which are the blood channels (sinusoids). These convey the blood from the circumference to the center of the lobule, and end in the intralobular vein, which runs through its center, to open at its base into one of the sublobular veins. Between the cells are also the minute bile capillaries. Therefore, in the lobule there are all the essentials of a secreting gland; that is to say: (1) cells, by which the secretion is formed; (2) bloodvessels, in close relation with the cells, containing the blood from which the secretion is derived; (3) ducts, by which the secretion, when formed, is carried away. |
| 1. The hepatic cells are polyhedral in form. They vary in size from 12 to 25μ in diameter. They contain one or sometimes two distinct nuclei. The nucleus exhibits an intranuclear network and one or two refractile nucleoli. The cells usually contain granules; some of which are protoplasmic, while others consist of glycogen, fat, or an iron compound. In the lower vertebrates, e.g., frog, the cells are arranged in tubes with the bile duct forming the lumen and bloodvessels externally. According to Delépine, evidences of this arrangement can be found in the human liver. |
| 2. The Bloodvessels.—The blood in the capillary plexus around the liver cells is brought to the liver principally by the portal vein, but also to a certain extent by the hepatic artery. |
| The hepatic artery, entering the liver at the porta with the portal vein and hepatic duct, ramifies with these vessels through the portal canals. It gives off vaginal branches, which ramify in the fibrous capsule of Glisson, and appear to be destined chiefly for the nutrition of the coats of the vessels and ducts. It also gives off capsular branches, which reach the surface of the organ, ending in its fibrous coat in stellate plexuses. Finally, it gives off interlobular branches, which form a plexus outside each lobule, to supply the walls of the interlobular veins and the accompanying bile ducts. From this plexus lobular branches enter the lobule and end in the net-work of sinusoids between the cells. |
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FIG. 1093– Section across portal canal of pig. X 250. (See enlarged image) |
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FIG. 1094– Bile capillaries of rabbit. shown by Golgi’s method. X 450. (See enlarged image) |
| The portal vein also enters at the porta, and runs through the portal canals (Fig. 1093), enclosed in Glisson’s capsule, dividing in its course into branches, which finally break up into a plexus, the interlobular plexus, in the interlobular spaces. These branches receive the vaginal and capsular veins, corresponding to the vaginal and capsular branches of the hepatic artery. Thus it will be seen that all the blood carried to the liver by the portal vein and hepatic artery finds its way into the interlobular plexus. From this plexus the blood is carried into the lobule by fine branches which converge from the circumference to the center of the lobule, and are connected by transverse branches (Fig. 1091). The walls of these small vessels are incomplete so that the blood is brought into direct relationship with the liver cells. The lining endothelium consists of irregularly branched, disconnected cells (stellate cells of Kupffer). Moreover, according to Herring and Simpson, minute channels penetrate the liver cells themselves, conveying the constituents of the blood into their substance. It will be seen that the blood capillaries of the liver lobule differ structurally from capillaries elsewhere. Developmentally they are formed by the growth of the columns of liver cells into large blood spaces or sinuses, and hence they have received the name of “sinusoids.” Arrived at the center of the lobule, |