THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

By
Hadush Tewele
College of Health Sciences
Department of Biomedical Science
Anatomy Unit
Mesentery
 A mesentery is a double layer of peritoneum
that encloses small intestine to the posterior
abdominal wall
 Mesenteries provide routes for blood vessels,

lymphatics and nerves to reach the digestive

viscera
 Mesenteries also suspend the visceral organs

in place as well as serving as a site for fat

storage
 THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
 Two groups of organs compose the digestive system:
the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and the accessory digestive organs.
 The gastrointestinal (GI) tract, or alimentary canal, is a
continuous tube that extends from the mouth to the anus through
the thoracic and abdominopelvic cavities.
 Organs of the gastrointestinal tract include the mouth, most of the
pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine.
 THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
 Organs of the digestive system.
Organs of the gastrointestinal
(GI) tract are the mouth, pharynx,
esophagus, stomach, small
intestine, and large intestine.
 Accessory digestive organs
include the teeth, tongue, salivary
glands, liver, gallbladder, and
pancreas.
 Overall, the digestive system performs six basic processes:

1. Ingestion: This process involves taking foods and liquids into the
mouth (eating).
2. Secretion: Each day, cells within the walls of the GI tract and
accessory digestive organs secrete a total of about 7 liters of water,
acid, buffers, and enzymes into the lumen (interior space) of the tract.
3. Mixing and propulsion: Alternating contractions and relaxations of
smooth muscle in the walls of the GI tract mix food and secretions and
propel them toward the anus. This capability of the GI tract to mix and
move material along its length is called motility.
 Overall, the digestive system performs six basic processes…

4. Digestion: Mechanical and chemical processes break down ingested

food into small molecules.
5. Absorption: The entrance of ingested and secreted fluids, ions, and
the products of digestion into the epithelial cells lining the lumen of
the GI tract is called absorption.
6. Defecation: Wastes, indigestible substances, bacteria, cells sloughed
from the lining of the GI tract, and digested materials that were not
absorbed in their journey through the digestive
tract leave the body through the anus in a process called defecation.
 The digestive organs
 Mouth is first part of the digestive system
 where in food stuffs are broken down

mechanically into bolus by mastication

(chewing and swallowing) process with the
aid of teeth and tongue.
 The saliva, released from salivary glands, is

added to the food, which lubricates the food

as well as helps in the digestion of
carbohydrates via salivary amylase.
The digestive organs
 Oral Cavity (mouth)
 Entrance to the GI tract

❖Bounded anteriorly by the teeth and lips

❖Bounded posteriorly by the oropharynx
❖Superior boundary (roof) is formed by the
hard and soft palates.
Initial site of digestion:
 • mechanical digestion (via mastication) •

chemical digestion (via enzymes in saliva).

Pharynx receives food from the mouth.
 As it is a common passage for air and food,

the involuntary muscle contractions close

off the air passageways on entering the
food.
 PHARYNX

 When food is first swallowed, it passes from the mouth into the pharynx
 The pharynx is composed of skeletal muscle and lined by mucous

membrane, and is divided into three parts:

The nasopharynx,

The oropharynx, and

The laryngopharynx.

 The nasopharynx functions only in respiration,

 But both the oropharynx and laryngopharynx have digestive as well as

respiratory functions.
Esophagus
 • Tubular passageway •
 About 25 cm in adult
 • Connects Pharynx to stomach
 Superior esophageal sphincter:
 • between pharynx and esophagus •
 Skeletal muscle Inferior esophageal

sphincter between esophagus and stomach

•
Esophagus is the fibromuscular tube
through which the food receives from
pharynx and passes to the stomach aided
by peristaltic contractions.
 It thus acts as a transport duct between the

pharynx and stomach

 ESOPHAGUS
 The esophagus is a collapsible muscular tube, about 25 cm (10 in.)
long, that lies posterior to the trachea.
 Then it pierces the diaphragm through an opening called the
esophageal hiatus, and ends in the superior portion of the stomach
 Sometimes, part of the stomach protrudes above the diaphragm
through the esophageal hiatus.
 This condition, termed a hiatus hernia
 DEGLUTITION

 The movement of food from the mouth into the stomach is = swallowing, or

deglutition
 Deglutition is facilitated by the secretion of saliva and mucus and involves

the mouth, pharynx, and esophagus.

 Swallowing occurs in three stages:

(1) The voluntary stage, in which the bolus is passed into the oropharynx;

(2) The pharyngeal stage, the involuntary passage (pharynx into esophagus)

(3) The esophageal stage, the involuntary passage (esophagus into stomach).
 STOMACH
 The stomach is a J-shaped enlargement of the GI
tract directly inferior to the diaphragm
 The stomach connects the esophagus to the
duodenum, the first part of the small intestine
 Because a meal can be eaten much more quickly
than the intestines can digest and absorb it, one of
the functions of the stomach is to serve as a
mixing chamber and holding reservoir.
Stomach
is a hollow and J-shaped organ where
protein digestion is initiated and food
material is reduced into semi-fluid form.
 It secretes gastric juice containing protein-

digesting enzymes called pepsin and strong

hydrochloric acid.
 The conversion of solid food into semi-fluid

form facilitates further chemical digestion in

the small intestines.
Stomach
 ❖J-shaped elastic sac which is the widest
part of the digestive system
 ❖The stomach is divided into 5 regions:
 – Cardia
 – Fundus
 – Body
 – Pylorus
 – Pyloric sphincte
Regions of the stomach

 1. Cardia: the point where the oesophagus

connects to the stomach
 2. Fundus: dome-shaped superior portion
 3. Body: mid-region
 4. Pylorus: lower funnel shaped region
 5. Pyloric sphincter: separates stomach and

small intestine.
Functions of the Stomach
 Storing food and releases it gradually into
the small intestine
 • Digestion (Chemical , Mechanical):
 – Chemical: The stomach secretes acid and

enzymes that digest food

 – Mechanical: peristaltic contractions mix

food with stomach juices

 Functions of the Stomach
A. Mixes saliva, food, and gastric juice to form chyme.
B. Serves as a reservoir for food before release into small
intestine.
C. Secretes gastric juice, which contains HCl (kills bacteria
and denatures protein), pepsin (begins the digestion of
proteins), intrinsic factor (aids absorption of vitamin B12),
and gastric lipase (aids digestion of triglycerides).
D. Secretes gastrin into blood.
Small Intestine
 is an important organ of GIT of digestion
and absorption of food.
 The partially digested food material,

received from stomach, is completely

broken down into smaller molecules by
enzymatic process
 which are then absorbed in the blood

capillaries of small intestine

 Ingested nutrients spend at least 12 hours

in the small intestine.

 thin-walled tube •
 coiled about 7 meters in length.
 ❖Extends from the pylorus of the stomach

to the cecum of the large intestine

 Most digestion and absorption of nutrients occur in a

long tube called the small intestine.

 LARGE INTESTINE
 The LI is the terminal portion of the GI tract.
 About 1.5 m long and 6.5 cm
in diameter, extends from the ileum to the anus.
 Structurally, the eight major regions of the large intestine are
 Appendix
 cecum
A.colon
T.colon
D.colon
Sigmoid colon
Rectum, and anal canal
Hadush Tewele 01/02/2025
Function of large intestine
 Absorbs excess water from the remaining
undigested material.
 ❖Watery material that first enters the large

intestine gradually solidifies and becomes

feces.
 ❖Stores fecal material until the body is

ready to defecate
Accessory digestive organs

 Assist the GI tract in the digestion of food,

Include:
 Teeth
 Tongue
 Salivary glands
 Liver
 Gallbladder
 Pancreas
 Teeth
 Teeth aid in the physical breakdown of food, and the tongue assists in

chewing and swallowing.

 The other accessory digestive organs, however, never come into direct

contact with food.

 They produce or store secretions that flow into the GI tract through ducts;

the secretions aid in the chemical breakdown of food.

 The GI tract contains food from the time it is eaten until it is

digested and absorbed or eliminated.

 The teeth, or dentes, are accessory digestive organs located in

sockets of the alveolar processes of the mandible and maxillae.

 The alveolar processes are covered by the gingivae or gums which

extend slightly into each socket.

 A typical tooth has three major external regions:
 The crown,

 Root, and

 Neck.
 Cont,d

 Incisors (8) – for biting

food
 Canines (4) - for
grasping and tearing
food
 Bicuspids (8) – for
grinding and crushing
food
 Molars (12) – for
grinding food
Two sets of teeth
• 20 deciduous teeth, also called “milk
teeth,” erupt between 6 months and 30
months after birth.
 These teeth are eventually lost and

replaced by 32 permanent teeth

 function of tongue

 Mastication Manipulates and mixes food

during mastication
 Swallowing Performs important functions in

swallowing.
 Taste
 Speech
 Salivary Glands
 ❖Produce and secrete saliva (a fluid that
assists in the initial activities of digestion)
❖Humans have three pairs of salivary
glands:
 • parotid glands
 • submandibular glands
 • sublingual glands
 The three major salivary glands:
 Parotid,
 Consist of serous acini only
 Sublingual,
 Consist of mostly mucous acini and a few serous acini. and
 Submandibular.
 Consist mostly of serous acini (serous-fluid-secreting portions
of gland) and a few mucous acini (mucus-secreting portions of
gland)
 Liver
 The ruddy liver is the largest gland in the body
 weighing about 1.4 kg in an average adult.
 Amazingly versatile, it performs over 500 functions.
 Its digestive function is to produce bile, a green

alkaline liquid that is stored in the gallbladder and

secreted into the duodenum.
 Relation to liver
 The liver lies inferior to the diaphragm in the right
superior part of the abdominal cavity filling much of
the right hypochondriac and epigastric regions and
extending into the left hypochondriac region.
 It lies almost entirely within the rib cage, which

protects this highly vascular organ from blows that

could rupture it.
 Con,d
The liver is shaped like a wedge, the wide base of which faces
right and the narrow apex of which lies just inferior to the level
of the left nipple.
 The liver has two surfaces: the diaphragmatic and visceral

 The diaphragmatic surface faces anteriorly and superiorly,

whereas the visceral surface faces postero inferiorly.

The bare area of liver, is fused to the diaphragm and is therefore
devoid of peritoneum
 Cont,d
 The liver has a right lobe and a left lobe, which
traditionally were considered to be divided by the
falciform ligament on the anterior part of the
diaphragmatic surface and the fissure on the visceral
surface
 The falciform ligament is a vertical mesentery that

binds the liver to the anterior abdominal wall

 Two other lobes, the quadrate lobe and the caudate lobe, are
visible on the visceral surface just to the right of the fissure.
 Long considered part of the right lobe, these lobes are now
considered part of the left lobe, with which they share nerves
and vessels.
 Other important structures on the liver’s visceral
Cont…

surface are the gallbladder and the inferior vena cava,

which lie to the right of the quadrate and caudate
lobes, respectively.
 The inferior vena cava receives the hepatic veins

carrying blood out of the liver.

 Several structures pass through the liver’s fissure.
 Lying in the fissure’s inferior half is the ligamentum

teres or round ligament.

Hadush Tewele 01/02/2025

 Cont,d
 This cordlike ligament,the remnant of the umbilical
vein in the fetus, ascends to the
 liver from the navel, within the inferior margin of the

falciform ligament.
 Additionally, the superior half of the liver’s fissure

contains the ligamentum venosum a cordlike remnant

of the ductus venosus of the fetus for a review of fetal
circulation)
 Functions of The Liver

 ❖Produce bile. (bile is a greenish fluid that

breaks down fats into small droplets to
assist in their chemical digestion)
 ❖Detoxify drugs, metabolites, and poisons.

❖Store excess nutrients and vitamins and

release them when they are needed.
 Synthesize blood plasma proteins such as
albumins, globulins, and proteins required
for blood clotting.
 Help break down and recycle components of

aged and damaged erythrocytes

gallbladder
 – The gallbladder is a pearshaped sac –
Stores concentrate bile until it is needed for
digestion – Cystic duct connects the
gallbladder to the common bile duct –
During a meal it contracts, secreting bile
into the small intestine.
 PANCREAS
 The pancreas a retroperitoneal gland that is about 12–15 cm (5–6
in.) long and 2.5 cm (1 in.)
thick, lies posterior to the greater curvature of the stomach.
 The pancreas consists of a head, a body, and a tail and is usually
connected to the duodenum by two ducts
The head
The central body and
The tapering tail.
 Cont,d
 It is a crucial gland which serves both
exocrine and endocrine functions.
 It produces hormones insulin and glucagon

which regulate glucose metabolism.

 Pancreas also produces digestive enzymes;

amylase, trypsin, peptidase, and lipase; and

release into small intestine.
 These enzymes are responsible for

chemical breakdown of carbohydrates,

proteins and fats present in the food.
 Mixed gland because it exhibits both
endocrine and exocrine functions –
Endocrine functions are performed by the
pancreatic islets. – Exocrine activity results
in the secretion of digestive enzymes,
collectively called pancreatic juice, into the
duodenum.
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