Hey Steemians :)
As always, thank you for your support over my first few days on the platform. As I'm sure most users would agree, it is so much more motivating to have people interact with your posts, and it inspires me to make these posts as informative and as polished as I possibly can!
Today I thought I’d provide some insight into an organ which is largely overlooked, yet much more vital to day to day functioning than many people realise. It is an organ which really exemplifies just how complex of an organism we are, along with just how drastic the effects of removing just one element of the human puzzle (our anatomy) can be.
So, without further delay, let's take a look at the Gallbladder.
What is the gallbladder?
The gallbladder is a digestive accessory organ, located inferiorly on the posterior (backside) of the liver. It is here where bile is concentrated and stored for latter use in the digestive tract following synthesis in the liver. Through a series of intricate pathways, the gallbladder releases the stored bile into specialised ducts (common bile duct) which then travel down towards the pancreatic duct where it awaits released through the Sphincter of Oddi.
I apologise that the above process is highly simplified, yet it is deliberate as they are NOT of significant important; what is important is the role of bile in the digestive system!
So, what is the role of bile and how is it released?
Bile is an important emulsifier of lipids (fats) in the duodenum, which is the first part of the small intestine. Once released, bile is mixed with chyme (processed food and liquid) passed on from the mechanical digestion of the stomach, allowing them to form what are known as emulsion droplets. These emulsion droplets are small ‘droplets’ of fat which make it much easier for the chemical breakdown of fats to occur, as they increase the surface area of fat in the small intestine which can accessed by enzymes at any point in time. If bile was not present, due to the lipophilic nature of lipids (repel water), they would coagulate into larger fat globules which would slow the process of fat digestion, and hence lipids would past through he remaining sections of the gastrointestinal tract undigested.
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Now, how is the release of bile actually stimulated? Well It is complicated. In simple terms, fat’s in the chyme that are passed into the duodenum stimulate the release of an enzyme called cholecystokinin (CKK) from specialised enteroendocrine cells lining the duodenum. This enzyme has a multitude of roles, one of which is acting on the Sphincter of Oddi to allow the release of bile from the pancreatic duct into the small intestine, allowing it to perform its role of emulsifying fats. In doing so, this then allows other specialised enzymes known as lipase and co-lipase to breakdown the lipid droplets into its subunits (e.g. triglycerides and lipid-soluble vitamins), which can then be absorbed across the intestinal wall for use by the body.
What happens if we don’t have a gallbladder?
Long-term, nothing much. Short-term, well that is a different story. As the body can no longer store bile in the gallbladder, the bile that is continually synthesised by the liver is more regularly released into the duodenum; which can be detrimental to digestion. At the same time, relaxation of the Sphincter of Oddi will be offset compared to normal bile release – essentially meaning that it will be not entering the duodenum efficiently when it is needed, and hence there will be undigested fats which will continue on through the large intestine.
Patients who have their gallbladder removed due to a variety of complications. They are initially forced to adopt low-fat diets in order to minimise discomfort suffered, and can also find themselves regularly needing to defecate offensive stools. Nonetheless, it is possible to live an almost normal life given time, nonetheless it goes to show how an organ of such minute stature can lead to some fairly drastic inabilities to process fats – something which is present in most foods.
The point is: NO singular organ can be overlooked when considering anatomy, as some play more vital roles than you might realise!
Please upvote and resteem if you found this piece insightful 😊
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