Digestive Summary
Digestive Summary
Digestive Summary
The alimentary canal or gastrointestinal (GI) tract digests and absorbs food
- Alimentary canal – mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine
- Accessory digestive organs – teeth, tongue, gallbladder, salivary glands, liver, and pancreas
The GI tract is a “disassembly” line, nutrients become more available to the body in each step
Ingestion – taking food into the digestive tract
Mechanical processing-chewing, mixing, churning food
Propulsion (motility) – swallowing and peristalsis
Secretion- hormones and enzymes
Chemical digestion– catabolic breakdown of food
Absorption – movement of nutrients from the GI tract to the blood or lymph
Defecation – elimination of indigestible solid wastes
Movement of food
• Visceral smooth muscle shows rhythmic cycles of activity - pacemaker cells
• Peristalsis - waves that move a bolus
• Segmentation – churns and fragments a bolus
Regulation of digestion
2 levels of control
• Intrinsic control regulated by local centers
– Autonomous smooth muscle pacesetter cells
– Intrinsic nerve plexuses and sensory receptors
• Extrinsic control regulated by
– ANS
– GI hormones
Intrinsic Controls
Autonomous Smooth Muscle
• Pacesetter cells-generate slow wave potentials, the GI’s basic electrical rhythm
(BER), wavelike fluctuations in membrane potential, transmitted throughout smooth
muscle via gap junctions
• Threshold is reached by the effect of various mechanical, neural and hormonal
factors in GI tract
Neuronal Control
• Intrinsic controls
– Nerve plexuses near the GI tract initiate short reflexes
– Short reflexes are mediated by local enteric plexuses (gut brain)
• Extrinsic controls
– Long reflexes arising within or outside the GI tract
– Involve CNS centers and extrinsic autonomic nerves
– Parasympathetic reflexes
Intrinsic nerve plexuses – digestive tract has its own intramural nervous system – referred to as
enteric nervous system. Initiates reflexes that activate or inhibit digestive glands, mix lumen
contents and move them along
2 major nerve plexuses
- Submucosal nerve plexus – regulates glands and smooth muscle in the mucosa
- Myenteric nerve plexus – major nerve supply that controls GI tract mobility, initiates reflexes
that activate or inhibit digestive glands, mix lumen contents and move them along
Segmentation and peristalsis are largely automatic involving local short reflex arcs linked to the CNS
extrinsic controls via long autonomic reflex arc
Extrinsic control
Neural and hormonal mechanisms coordinate glands
Long reflexes arising within or outside the GI tract
GI activity stimulated by parasympathetic innervation
- ANS parasympathetic reflexes
- GI hormones - hormonal mechanisms enhance or inhibit smooth muscle contraction
Saliva
Salivary glands (3 pairs) - parotid, sublingual, and submandibular
Produce saliva - watery solution includes electrolytes, buffers, glycoproteins, antibodies, enzymes
Functions include:
lubrication,
moistening,
dissolving,
initiation of digestion of complex carbohydrates (starches)
Saliva: Source and Composition
Secreted from serous and mucous cells of salivary glands
A 97-99.5% water, hypo-osmotic, slightly acidic solution containing
Electrolytes – Na+, K+, Cl–, PO42–, HCO3–
Digestive enzyme – salivary amylase
Proteins – mucin, lysozyme, defensins, and IgA
Metabolic wastes – urea and uric acid
Control of Salivation
Intrinsic glands keep the mouth moist, extrinsic salivary glands secrete serous, enzyme-rich saliva in
response to:
- Ingested food which stimulates chemoreceptors and pressoreceptors
- The thought of food
- Strong sympathetic stimulation inhibits salivation and results in dry mouth
Deglutition (Swallowing)
Involves the coordinated activity of the tongue, soft palate, pharynx, esophagus and 22 separate muscle
groups.
Involves phases:
Buccal phase – bolus is forced into the oropharynx
Pharyngeal-esophageal phase – controlled by the medulla and lower pons, all routes except into
the digestive tract are sealed off, peristalsis moves food through the pharynx to the esophagus
The esophagus carries solids and liquids from the pharynx to the stomach, passes through esophageal hiatus
in diaphragm.
Stomach
5 Functions of the stomach
- Holds ingested food
- Degrades this food both physically and chemically
- Delivers chyme to the small intestine
- Enzymatically digests proteins with pepsin
- Secretes intrinsic factor required for absorption of vitamin B12
Stomach Lining
The stomach is exposed to the harshest conditions in the digestive tract
To keep from digesting itself, the stomach has a mucosal barrier with:
A thick coat of bicarbonate-rich mucus on the stomach wall
Epithelial cells that are joined by tight junctions
Gastric glands that have cells impermeable to HCl
Damaged epithelial cells are quickly replaced
3. Intestinal phase: as partially digested food enters the duodenum – release of hormones
controls (inhibits) the rate of gastric emptying by releasing
Excitatory phase
- low pH; partially digested food enters the duodenum and encourages
gastric gland activity
Inhibitory phase
– distension of duodenum, presence of fatty, acidic, or hypertonic
chyme, and/or irritants in the duodenum, initiates inhibition of local
reflexes and vagal nuclei, closes the pyloric sphincter, releases
enterogastrones that inhibit gastric secretion
Release of HCL:
Is low if only one ligand binds to parietal cells
Is high if all three ligands bind to parietal cells
Digestion in Stomach
Preliminary digestion of proteins via pepsin
Permits digestion of carbohydrates
Very little absorption of nutrients
Small intestine
Important digestive and absorptive functions
3 subdivisions:
Duodenum
Jejunum
Ileum
Ileocecal sphincter - transition between small and large intestine
Hormones
Secretin
Inhibits gastric emptying in order to prevent further acid from entering duodenum until
acid already present is neutralized
Inhibits gastric secretion to reduce amount of acid being produced
Stimulates pancreatic duct cells to produce large volume of aqueous NaHCO3 secretion
Stimulates liver to secrete NaCO3 rich bile which assists in neutralization process
Along with CCK, is trophic to exocrine pancreas
Cholecystokinin
inhibits gastric motility and secretion
Stimulates pancreatic acinar cells to increase secretion of pancreatic enzymes
Causes contraction of gallbladder
Along with secretin, is trophic to exocrine pancreas
Implicated in long-term adaptive changes in proportion of pancreatic enzymes in
response to prolonged diet changes
Important regulator of food intake
The Liver - largest gland in the body, performs metabolic and hematological regulation and produces bile
Hexagonal-shaped liver lobules are the structural and functional units of the liver; Composed of
hepatocytes, hepatocytes’ functions include:
Production of bile
Processing bloodborne nutrients
Storage of fat-soluble vitamins
Detoxification
--Secreted bile flows between hepatocytes toward the bile ducts in the portal triads
Composition of Bile
A yellow-green, alkaline solution containing bile salts, bile pigments, cholesterol, neutral
fats, phospholipids, and electrolytes.
Bile salts are cholesterol derivatives that:
emulsify fat,
facilitate fat and cholesterol absorption,
help solubilize cholesterol
The chief bile pigment is bilirubin, a waste product of heme
The Gallbladder -thin-walled, green muscular sac on the ventral surface of the liver, stores and
concentrates bile by absorbing its water and ions, releases bile via the cystic duct, which flows into the bile
duct
Regulation of Bile Release
Acidic, fatty chyme causes the duodenum to release:
Cholecystokinin (CCK) and secretin into the bloodstream
Bile salts and secretin transported in blood stimulate the liver to produce bile
Vagal stimulation causes weak contractions of the gallbladder
Cholecystokinin causes the gallbladder to contract, the hepatopancreatic sphincter to relax as a
result, bile enters the duodenum
The Pancreas
2 separate functions:
Endocrine functions – secretes insulin and glucagons
Exocrine functions - secretes pancreatic juice into small intestine which breaks down all categories of
foodstuff, Acini (clusters of secretory cells) contain zymogen granules with digestive enzymes
Control of Motility
Local enteric neurons of the GI tract coordinate intestinal motility
Cholinergic neurons cause contraction and shortening of the circular
muscle layer, shortening of longitudinal muscle, distension of the
intestine, Other impulses relax the circular muscle
The gastroileal reflex and gastrin relax the ileocecal sphincter and
allow chyme to pass into the large intestine
Large Intestine
Functions
Reabsorb water and compact material into feces, absorb vitamins
produced by bacteria
Store fecal matter prior to defecation
Other than digestion of enteric bacteria, no further digestion takes place
Vitamins, water, and electrolytes are reclaimed
Rectum
Last portion of the digestive tract, terminates at the anal canal
Defecation reflex triggered by distention of rectal walls caused by feces:
Stimulates contraction of the rectal walls, relaxes the internal anal sphincter
Voluntary signals stimulate relaxation of the external anal sphincter and defecation occurs
Glycerol and short chain fatty acids are absorbed into the capillary blood in villi
Transported via the hepatic portal vein
Electrolyte Absorption
Most ions are actively absorbed along the length of small intestine
Na+ is coupled with absorption of glucose and amino acids
Ionic iron is transported into mucosal cells where it binds to ferritin
Anions passively follow the electrical potential established by Na+
K+ diffuses across the intestinal mucosa in response to osmotic gradients
Ca2+ absorption is related to blood levels of ionic calcium, regulated by vitamin D and parathyroid
hormone (PTH)