[Metabolic zonation of liver parenchyma. Regulation of the glucostat of the liver].

The liver is the glucostat of the organism. It removes glucose when offered in excess as after a normal meal via glycogen synthesis and glycolysis; it provides glucose when needed as in between meals. Hepatocytes from the periportal (afferent) and perivenous (efferent) zones of the liver parenchyma differ in their enzyme content and subcellular structures. Therefore the model of "metabolic zonation" proposes different functions for the two zones. Glucose release is predominantly located in the periportal and glucose uptake in the perivenous zone. The non-zonal, homogeneous and the zonal heterogeneous organization of antagonistic pathways are compared to a narrow country road and a divided highway, respectively, which would allow traffic to proceed at a given time in only one or in both directions, respectively. The highway, corresponding to the model of metabolic zonation, is certainly more efficient than a narrow country road.