Pancreatic and Bile Secretion Practice Quiz

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering pancreatic and bile secretion, related anatomical structures, regulatory mechanisms, and clinical disorders.

Duct of Wirsung

The centrally located main pancreatic duct through which pancreatic juice drains before fusing with the bile duct and entering the duodenum.

Annular Pancreas

A condition where pancreatic tissue constricts the descending portion of the duodenum, impairing the flow of food and bile and leading to vomiting of bile-stained material.

Acinar cells

Exocrine cells of the pancreas that produce a low-volume, enzyme-rich fluid in an isotonic $NaCl$ solution.

Duct cells

Pancreatic cells that secrete an isotonic $NaHCO_3$ solution, which is essential for neutralizing gastric acid in the small intestine.

CFTR Cl- channel

A channel on pancreatic duct cells that recycles chloride into the lumen; mutations in this gene cause Cystic Fibrosis, leading to thick mucus and pancreatic enzyme insufficiency.

Enterokinase

A brush border enzyme that activates the proenzyme trypsinogen by converting it to trypsin.

Trypsin

An active enzyme that, once formed from trypsinogen, cleaves and activates all other pancreatic zymogens.

Pancreatitis

A condition occurring when pancreatic enzymes are activated within the pancreas and surrounding tissues, resulting in autodigestion.

Budd-Chiari syndrome

Hepatic vein thrombosis or compression resulting in centrilobular congestion, hepatomegaly, ascites, and liver failure, often without JVD.

Caroli disease

A malformation causing segmental dilatation of the intrahepatic biliary tree, which can lead to bile duct stones.

Primary bile acids

Bile acids synthesized and secreted directly by hepatocytes.

Secondary bile acids

Bile acids formed when primary bile acids are converted by intestinal bacteria.

Bile salts

Water-soluble molecules formed by the liver by conjugating bile acids with the amino acids glycine or taurine.

7α-hydroxylase

The enzyme involved in bile acid synthesis that is inhibited by the presence of bile salts via feedback inhibition.

Enterohepatic circulation

The process by which bile salts are reabsorbed in the distal ileum and returned to the liver to maintain the bile acid pool.

Choleretics

Substances that stimulate bile secretion by the liver, with bile salts being the most important example.

Cholestyramine

A bile-binding resin used to treat hypercholesterolemia by preventing bile acid reabsorption in the distal ileum, thereby increasing fecal bile acid excretion.

Cholelithiasis

The medical term for the presence of gallstones, which are categorized as either cholesterol gallstones or pigment gallstones.

Murphy’s sign

A clinical indicator of acute cholecystitis where a patient's breathing stops upon deep palpation of the right upper abdominal quadrant.

Mirizzi syndrome

Common hepatic duct obstruction caused by extrinsic compression from a stone impacted in the cystic duct or Hartmann pouch.

Primary Biliary Cholangitis

An autoimmune disease characterized by granulomatous destruction of small bile ducts, most common in females, and associated with antimitochondrial antibodies.

Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis

A condition involving fibrous obliteration of bile ducts with an 'onion skin' pattern, most common in males and associated with Ulcerative Colitis.

Reye syndrome

A rapidly progressive encephalopathy and liver failure caused by aspirin use in children during viral infections, characterized by microvesicular fat deposits in the liver.

Steatorrhea

The excretion of oily, pale, and foul-smelling stools due to the malabsorption of dietary fats.