Liver uptake

This graph shows the uptake profile of intravenously administered heparin (30 nm long polysaccharide). Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) play a dominating role in the uptake of large molecules from the blood, as exemplified in the figure above. Note that the uptake in LSECs account for about 80%.

This means that the liver metabolism and toxicity caused by biologics and nanopharmaceuticals can only be correctly interpreted and controlled when including LSEC assays.