Gastrointestinal System II: Gall Bladder

#115 Gallbladder, H & E

The gall bladder is a distensible blind pouch that receives dilute bile from the liver.  Within the organ bile is concentrated.  It is released under stimulation from the small intestine.  What hormone is responsible for this?  The highly convoluted mucosa is lined with simple columnar epithelium.  Note the microvillus border.  There are numerous dilated blood vessels in the lamina propria.  Unlike the gut proper, there is no muscularis mucosae.  The muscularis externa contains elastic and collagen fibers among the bands of irregularly arranged smooth muscle.  Externally there is dense, irregularly arranged connective tissue.

The cystic duct from the gall bladder and the hepatic duct from the liver unite to form the common bile duct.

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