الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The liver is the second largest organ in the body after the skin weighing around 2-5% of the average body weight and it is the largest gland in the body with both exocrine and endocrine functions (Si-Tayeb et al., 2010). The liver has four lobes, right, left, caudate and quadrate, and is positioned in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen under the right hemidiaphragm where it is held in place by the help of ligamentous attachments and protected by the rib cage (Abdel-Misih & Bloomston, 2010).
In the liver, hepatocytes are arranged in a hexagonal shape forming the functional and structural unit of the liver named the lobule. Within the center of the lobule, lies a central vein. While at each apex of the lobule lies the portal triad consisting of portal vein, hepatic artery and bile duct (Si-Tayeb et al., 2010). Hepatocytes are lined with small blood vessels called sinusoids that allow the flow of blood from the hepatic artery and portal vein to the central vein, whereas bile moves through canals called canaliculi away from central vein towards the bile duct in the portal triad (figure 1.1) (Si-Tayeb et al., 2010). In addition to the hepatocytes, various types of cells are present in the liver including cholangiocytes, endothelial cells, sinusoidal endothelial cells, Kupffer cells also called resident liver