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Bile

Biology Bilateral symmetryBinary fission

 


Bile
Chapter 14
Generation of bile pigments by haem oxygenase: a refined cellular strategy in response to stressful insults
Roberta Foresti, Colin J. Green and Roberto Motterlini1 ...
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bile
Definition of bile
Thick, greenish-brown fluid produced by the liver and discharged into the small intestine that aids in fat digestion and other digestive processes.

Bile contains:
bile acids. These amphiphilic steroids emulsify ingested fat. The hydrophobic portion of the steroid dissolves in the fat while the negatively-charged side chain interacts with water molecules.

Bile can either drain directly into the duodenum via the common bile duct or be temporarily stored in the gallbladder via the cystic duct. The common bile duct and the pancreatic duct enter the duodenum together at the ampulla of Vater.

bile
A yellow secretion of the vertebrate liver, temporarily stored in the gallbladder and composed of organic salts that emulsify fats in the small intestine.
binary fission ...

bile A fluid secreted by the liver and poured into the small intestine via the bile duct; emulsifies fats.
bilharziasis Disease caused by Schistosoma spp. Also called schistosomiasis.

bile
a mixture of substances containing bile salts, which emulsify fats and aid in their digestion and absorption.

Bile emulsifies fats, facilitating their breakdown into progressively smaller fat globules until they can be acted upon by lipases. Bile contains cholesterol, phospholipids, bilirubin, and a mix of salts.

The bile produced in the liver is collected in bile capillaries which merge to form bile ducts. These eventually drain into the right and left hepatic ducts, which in turn merge to form the common hepatic duct.

Our hands, tongue, teeth, (smooth) muscles of the digestive tract, H+ ions (hydrochloric acid) in the stomach, and bile are all involved in the breakdown of food to smaller pieces which can then be attacked by the digestive enzymes.

The orange-yellow pigment of bile, the green fluid that aids in digestion and that is secreted by the liver. Bilirubin is formed mainly by hemoglobin breakdown at the end of red cell life and eventually most of it leaves the body in the feces.

bile salts Amphipathic steroid derivatives with detergent properties, participating in digestion and absorption of lipids.

The disease is characterized by a buildup of bile in the liver due to a deficiency or absence of normal bile ducts inside the liver and a narrowing of bile ducts outside the liver.

Stimulates pancreatic, pepsin and bile secretion, inhibits gastric acid secretion. Considerable homology with gastric inhibitory peptide, vasoactive intestinal peptide and glucagon.

Melancholia black bile: one of the four humors of which people used to think the body was composed and which they thought was produced by the spleen
(melano = black; choler = bile‚ anger)
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sac near the liver in which bile is stored
Source: Noland, George B. 1983. General Biology, 11th Edition. St. Louis, MO. C. V. Mosby
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See also: Cells, Human, Trans, Tissue, Protein