LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Liver: Lobules
built 606 days ago
Slide 218, a plastic section, shows well the lobular arrangement of monkey liver. Locate examples of central veins (terminal venules) as well as portal triads. The cords of hepatocytes are separated by sinusoids that drain into the central vein. Note that many hepatocytes are binucleated. Can you see the endothelial lining of the sinusoids? Are these fenestrated?
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In contrast, a liver acinus encompasses the liver tissue that is served by a single terminal branch of the hepatic artery. These small vessels extend out from portal areas, along the boundaries between adjacent lobules. An acinus is typically diamond-shaped in cross section, with a hepatic arteriole crossing the center and with central veins at the two opposite corners. The acinus includes triangular portions of two adjacent lobules.
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Tiny blood vessel branches of the hepatic artery and the hepatic portal vein are found around each liver lobule. This network of blood vessels is responsible for the vast amount of blood that flows through the liver—about 1.4 liters (about 3 pt) every minute. Blood exits the liver through the hepatic vein, which eventually drains into the heart.
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Blood from both portal vein and hepatic artery mixes together in the hepatic sinusoids and then passes out of the liver through the hepatic vein. The parenchyma of each lobule can be divided into arbitrary zones based on oxygen supply (see WebPath), with the central zone (closest the the central vein) poorest in oxygen.
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Lobules