Everyone is aware of the distinct organs of the body. But people who aren’t from the medical field are confused between the functions and working of organs.
They struggle to understand these organs and their work. Comprehending the discrepancy between the kidney and the liver can effortlessly make you know further about these organs.
Key Takeaways
- The liver is a large organ responsible for processing nutrients, detoxifying harmful substances, and producing bile. At the same time, the kidneys are a pair of bean-shaped organs that filter waste, regulate electrolytes, and maintain acid-base balance in the body.
- Liver diseases can result from alcohol abuse, viral infections, or genetic conditions, while kidney diseases stem from diabetes, high blood pressure, or autoimmune disorders.
- Both the liver and kidneys play vital roles in maintaining overall health, and damage to either organ can have serious consequences, including life-threatening complications.
Liver vs Kidney
The difference between the liver and the kidney is that the liver is the body’s largest organ, performing the process of vital biosynthesis of the body, such as proteins, cholesterol, glycogen, etc. On the other hand, Kidneys are bean-shaped organs that execute removing waste material from the body.
The liver stands as the second on the list of massive organs in the body of animals. It is arranged on the right cavity of the abdomen.
It accomplishes some of the largest essential tasks of the body. The primary role involves producing and storing energy by converting glucose into glycogen. This glycogen can be released when the body is deficient in energy.
The kidney is another very vital organ in the body of animals. It is a bean-shaped part positioned on the right and left walls of the backbone down the rib cage.
It regulates the functions critical for removing waste materials from the body and the excess wanted. It also maintains the osmoregulation of the body.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Liver | Kidney |
|---|---|---|
| Location | The liver is placed in the right cavity of the abdominal cavity. | The kidney is located behind the peritoneum below the rib cage. |
| Number | Single Liver is present in the body of Man. | Two kidneys are present in the body of Man. |
| Function | The fundamental purpose of the liver is the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins. | The fundamental purpose of the kidney is to excrete out the debris of the body. |
| Storage | Liver reserves glycogen, fat, and vitamins. | The kidney doesn’t reserve anything in it. |
| Secretion | The liver produces bile and some imploring protein required in the clotting of blood. | The kidney produces certain hormones and decreases them. |
What is Liver?
The liver is a very crucial part of the human body. It is a huge lobed organ present just below the diaphragm. The right and left lobes have two significant lobes and two minor lobes, caudate and quadrate.
It is also known as the body’s storehouse, as it stores energy in the form of a polymer of glucose called glycogen.
Hepatocytes are the prominent working units of the liver. They perform all the major roles in the liver. Kupffer cells are another type of cell in the liver responsible for removing foreign particles in the liver.
Hepatocytes produce bile (a critical digestive enzyme). It releases biles through bile ducts into the duodenum part of the intestine, where it is utilized for the breakdown of fats.
The liver breaks down major biomolecules in the body and converts them into the form the body can absorb energy. It also breaks down medicines to help the body absorb them.
It produces some of the crucial proteins known as clotting factors required for the proper clotting of blood in the body.
When the body has a low glucose level, the liver converts the stored glycogen into glucose in such circumstances. Also, it carries out gluconeogenesis to produce new glucose molecules to be used to gain energy in starving conditions.
Default in liver functionality can lead to several Disorders, such as Jaundice.
What is Kidney?
Kidneys are the major secretory organ of the body. It removes all the waste and toxic material from the body. The waste material from it is removed in the form of urine.
It also regulates and maintains the osmolarity in the body. This means that it supports the amount of Iona in the body.
The basic working units of the kidney are nephrons. There are several hundred nephrons present in one kidney. These nephrons perform the function of waste material from the body. The glomerulus is the central portion of the nephron.
The blood passes through nephrons and glomeruli, and the beneficial ions and water reabsorption occur. Finally, the toxic substances and waste materials, such as urea, ammonia, uric acid, etc., are excreted out of the body in urine.
By reabsorption of ions and by excreting out excess ions when necessary, the kidney also maintains the osmolarity of the body. Defaults in the working of the kidney can result in several varieties of disorders.
Serious dysfunction of the kidney can conclude in kidney downfall. If both kidneys fail, in that case, the person requires dialysis.
Main Differences Between Liver and Kidney
- The liver weighs about kidney weighs 125-170 gms in Males and 115- 155 gms in Females.
- “Hepat” is the word used to refer to the liver in scientific languages. In contrast, the word renal is used in scientific language to refer to kidneys.
- The liver is part of the body’s digestive system that is responsible for crucial metabolism. Kidneys prevail as a portion of the urinary network of the torso.
- Single Liver is present in Man’s body which has a gallbladder attached to it and lies adjacent to the belly. At the same time, two kidneys are present in Man’s body, an adrenal gland above it.
- Common liver disease includes Hepatitis, fatty liver, cancer, etc. In contrast, common diseases of the kidney are kidney stones, nephrotic syndrome, and acute kidney injury.
Last Updated : 26 July, 2023
I’ve put so much effort writing this blog post to provide value to you. It’ll be very helpful for me, if you consider sharing it on social media or with your friends/family. SHARING IS ♥️
Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
