NERVOUS CONTROL OF LIVER-METABOLISM AND HEMODYNAMICS

Besides being a center of intermediary metabolism, a center of defense and a control center for the hormonal system, the liver acts as the glucose reservoir of the organism and, moreover, as an important blood reservoir, by taking up or releasing glucose and blood. The many diverse hepatic functions are controlled by the substrate concentrations in blood, the circulating hormone levels, the biomatrix and the autonomic hepatic nerves. In this review, the present knowledge on the metabolic and hemodynamic effects, the mechanism of action and the function of the hepatic nerves, as studied in the isolated perfused liver, are summarized.