Histology
The first bile duct in the liver is formed only by the walls of the opposite liver cells. After these bile ducts have opened into the Hehring tubules, the bile duct is lined by an epithelium. Other cells are found here: oval cells.
The oval cells are stem cells. This means that new cells can develop from them after damage to the liver tissue. The special thing about the bile ducts that follow the herring ducts is that bicarbonate is actively secreted into the bile. This means that water passively flows into the bile due to the additional salt in the bile. This increases the volume of bile in this bile duct by 30%.
Function
The bile duct serves to drain the bile. As a result, the bile flows from the liver into the gallbladder only via the common hepatic duct (common duct from the liver) and the cystic duct. The gallbladder can be counted as part of the bile duct system in the broadest sense.
In the gallbladder, the bile produced in the liver is stored and thickened.Thickened means that water is removed from the bile, making it thicker in consistency. If food is ingested and thus digested, this triggers the release of bile. This increases the secretion of bile in the liver and the muscle of the gallbladder wall contracts.
As a result, the bile is released into the choledochal duct and can flow towards the pancreas and duodenum. The bile duct can be pathologically displaced. This is either caused by a gallstone that lies in the bile duct or by a tumor that can constrict the bile duct from the inside or outside.
Gallstones that lie in the gall bladder are called cholecystolithiasis. The obstruction of the bile duct can lead to the accumulation and backflow of bile (so-called cholestasis). This can cause the bile ducts within the liver to dilate abnormally.
Especially if the bile duct is suddenly obstructed by a bile duct stone, severe and colicky pain in the upper abdomen can occur. If, on the other hand, the obstruction progresses slowly, as is the case with a growing tumor, pain often does not occur. If the bile duct is obstructed, an enlarged and bulging gall bladder can often be palpated externally.
In this case, the doctor can palpate the edge of the liver and the gall bladder under the right costal arch. A rare disease of the bile ducts of newborns is atresia of the bile ducts. The cause has not yet been clarified.
In this disease, a blockage (atresia) of a bile duct occurs and the number of inflammations of the bile ducts increases. Bile duct cysts are rare malformations of the bile duct. This leads to a dilatation of the bile ducts.
