General

The enzymes

Every factory has workers. In the liver, these are called enzymes. They help to convert or break down nutrients or drugs. The liver contains tremendous amounts of enzymes.

Alongside every liver cell is a capillary that delivers blood from the portal vein. The blood contains nutrients, and may also contain drugs. Those substances enter the liver cell, where enzymes convert them into breakdown products called metabolites. Metabolites may then be released back into the blood, or they may be transported to the intestines in a fluid known as bile.