Nicotine

General 6: From the heart to the liver

Part of the oxygen-rich blood containing the nicotine molecules is pumped via the aorta and the hepatic artery to the liver.

When it arrives there, it diffuses through the network of small blood vessels. Via the portal vein, oxygen-depleted blood flows into the liver from the small intestine.

Later, when the nicotine molecules have spread throughout the body, some of them will also reach the liver through the portal vein.