It serves a vital function in almost every system in your body; from hormone and digestive enzyme production to blood filtration and the last stop in chemical digestion of medications. It is both an endocrine and exocrine organ, and along with the heart, brain and pancreas is an organ that we cannot live without. The liver produces bile that is stored in the gallbladder to be secreted into the small intestine before eventually leaving the body; making bile production an exocrine function. Your liver also manufactures some very important hormones (endocrine function). It produces Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF 1); a hormone responsible for stimulating body growth in children. Thrombopoietin is a hormone produced by the liver that regulates platelet production in your bone marrow. Your liver, along with your kidneys, are an important organ in glucose metabolism. The liver converts glucose into glycogen. Glycogen provides the body with short term energy storage. The liver makes cholesterol and tryglycerides; important components of hormone production. The liver is where old red blood cells go to die. The liver is the site of drug metabolism and in some cases drugs can become temporarily more toxic to the body during the digestion process as their constituents become more concentrated. The liver stores vitamins and minerals for short and long term use including Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, iron and copper . One more major function; the liver makes angiotensinogen, a precursor to angiotensin, the hormone responsible for increasing blood pressure in times of fluid loss, or elevated blood cortisol levels.
