The hepatic portal vein carries blood from which regions to the liver?

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The liver receives blood through a special circulatory route called the hepatic portal system. Blood in the hepatic portal vein comes from the digestive tract and the spleen, carrying nutrients and other substances absorbed from the gut that the liver needs to process or detoxify before it enters general circulation. This portal blood is nutrient-rich but oxygen-poor compared with arterial blood, reflecting its GI origin.

This pathway does not involve blood from the lungs, kidneys, or heart directly into the liver via the portal vein. Blood from the lungs returns to the heart to be pumped systemically, and kidneys drain their blood into the inferior vena cava, not into the hepatic portal system. The hepatic portal vein is formed by the joining of veins from the digestive tract and spleen and then delivers that blood to the liver for processing.