Blood Circulation in the Liver

This system serves the intestines, spleen, pancreas and gall bladder. The liver receives it blood from two main sources. The main sources are the hepatic artery, which as a branch of the aorta, supplies oxygenated blood to the liver and the hepatic portal vein, which is formed by the union of veins from the spleen, the stomach, pancreas, duodenum and the colon. The hepatic portal vein transports, inter alia, the following blood to the liver:
• absorbed nutrients from the duodenum;
• white blood cells (added to the circulation) from the spleen;
• poisomous substances, such as alcohol which are absorbed in the intestines, and
• waste products, such as carbon dioxide from the spleen, pancreas, stomach and duodenum.
The hepatic artery and hepatic portal vein open into the liver sinuses where the blood is in direct contact with the liver cells. The deoxygenated blood, which still retains some dissolved nutrients, eventually flows into the inferior vena cava via the hepatic veins.Coronary Circulation

While the liver serves a variety of functions, the most crucial is its role in the body's metabolism. There is no organ that is more important to healthy metabolism than the liver - in many ways, it is as central to metabolism as the heart is to the circulation of blood. The liver plays a critical role in four key areas of metabolism: fuel management, nitrogen excretion, the regulation water distribution between the blood and tissues, and the detoxification of foreign substances.
Because of the crucial importance of healthly metabolism to overall health, diseases of the liver, such as hepatitis C, can be devastating, leading to fatigue, malaise, and even to death.