Liver Histology

The liver comprises several histological components, such as hepatocytes, bile canaliculi, and sinusoids.

Hepatocytes are specialized epithelial cells that are arranged in highly branched, irregular, three-dimensional plates called hepatic laminae.

Their primary function is to assist in blood detoxification and to secret bile.

Hepatocytes secrete bile into small ducts called bile canaliculi. From here, bile flows into bile ductules and subsequently into larger bile ducts.

Present on the edge of the laminae is a collection of bile ducts, branches of hepatic arteries, and hepatic portal veins called a portal triad.

Liver sinusoids, present between the rows of hepatocytes, collect blood from the portal triads, eventually emptying into the central vein.

Blood enters the hepatic veins from the central veins, which empty into the inferior vena cava.

The sinusoid walls also have stellate or hepatic macrophages that filter blood by removing debris and worn-out blood cells.

There are many anatomical ways in which hepatocytes, portal triad, and sinusoids can be arranged the most accepted of which is the hepatic acinus.