DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

Week 13 Topic
ZOO106 – Human Anatomy and Physiology
JUNE 3-7 2019

St. Paul University Philippines - College of Nursing School of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences - 2nd Semester 2018-2019
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 Learning Objectives
On completion of the week’s activity, the students should
be able to
• describe the components of the digestive system
• discuss the process of digestion

• describe the structure and function of the accessory organs

(salivary, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder)
• describe the control mechanisms that govern digestion:
 nervous system (intrinsic and extrinsic)
 hormonal – paracrine and endocrine mechanism
• describe the secretory cells in the tubes and accessory glands
• discuss the importance of motility (via muscle contraction) of the
tubes
• explain where and how the processes of digestion, absorption, and
excretion occur
• predict the outcome of disturbed digestive system functions
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Digestive System Anatomy
• Digestive tract
• Alimentary tract or canal
• GI tract
• Accessory organs
• Primarily glands
• Regions
• Mouth or oral cavity
• Pharynx
• Esophagus
• Stomach
• Small intestine
• Large intestine
• Anus
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 Functions
• Ingestion: Introduction of food into stomach
• Mastication: Chewing
• Propulsion
• Deglutition: Swallowing
• Peristalsis: Moves material through digestive tract

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 Functions

• Mixing: Segmental contraction that occurs in small intestine

• Secretion: Lubricate, liquefy, digest
• Digestion: Mechanical and chemical
• Absorption: Movement from tract into circulation or lymph
• Elimination: Waste products removed from body 24-5
Digestive Tract Histology

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 Digestive System Regulation

• Chemical regulation
• Production of hormones
• Nervous regulation • Gastrin, secretin

• Involves enteric nervous • Production of paracrine

system chemicals
• Types of neurons: • Histamine
sensory, motor, • Help local reflexes in ENS
interneurons control digestive
• Coordinates peristalsis environments as pH
levels
and regulates local
reflexes
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Peritoneum and Mesenteries
• Peritoneum
• Visceral: Covers organs
• Parietal: Covers interior
surface of body wall
• Retroperitoneal: Behind
peritoneum as kidneys,
pancreas, duodenum

• Mesenteries
• Routes which vessels and
nerves pass from body wall
to organs
• Greater omentum
• Lesser omentum
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Oral Cavity

• Mouth or oral cavity

• Vestibule: Space between
lips or cheeks and alveolar
processes
• Oral cavity proper
• Lips (labia) and cheeks
• Palate: Oral cavity roof
• Hard and soft
• Palatine tonsils
• Tongue: Involved in
speech, taste,
mastication, swallowing
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Teeth

• Two sets
• Primary, deciduous,
milk: Childhood
• Permanent or
secondary: Adult (32)
• Types
• Incisors, canine,
premolar and molars

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Teeth

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Salivary Glands
• Produce saliva
• Prevents bacterial
infection
• Lubrication
• Contains salivary
amylase
• Breaks down starch
• Three pairs
• Parotid: Largest
• Submandibular
• Sublingual: Smallest
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 Pharynx and Esophagus
• Esophagus
• Transports food from
pharynx to stomach
• Pharynx • Passes through
esophageal hiatus
• Nasopharynx (opening) of diaphragm
and ends at stomach
• Oropharynx: Transmits • Hiatal hernia
food normally
• Laryngopharynx: • Sphincters
Transmits food • Upper
normally • Lower

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 Deglutition (Swallowing)

• Three phases
• Voluntary
• Bolus of food moved by tongue from oral cavity to pharynx
• Pharyngeal
Reflex: Upper esophageal sphincter relaxes, elevated pharynx opens
the esophagus, food pushed into esophagus
• Esophageal
• Reflex: Epiglottis is tipped posteriorly, larynx elevated to prevent
food from passing into larynx

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 Phases of Deglutition (Swallowing)
a. During the voluntary phase, a bolus of
d. As the inferior pharyngeal constrictor
contracts, the upper esophageal sphincter
relaxes (outwardly directed blue arrows),
allowing the bolus to enter the esophagus.
e. During the esophageal phase, the bolus is
moved by peristaltic contractions of the
esophagus toward the stomach.
food
(yellow) is pushed by the tongue against the
hard and soft palates and posteriorly toward
the oropharynx (blue arrow indicates tongue
movement; black arrow indicates movement
of the bolus). Tan: bone; purple: cartilage;
red: muscle.
b. During the pharyngeal phase, the soft
palate is elevated, closing off the
nasopharynx. The pharynx and larynx are
elevated (blue arrows indicate muscle
movement; green arrow indicates
elevation of the larynx).
c. Successive constriction of the pharyngeal
constrictors from superior to inferior (blue
arrows) forces the bolus through the pharynx
and into the esophagus. As this occurs, the
vestibular and vocal folds expand medially to
close the passage of the larynx. The
epiglottis (green arrow) is bent down over 24-
the opening of the larynx largely by the force15
of the bolus pressing against it.
The DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

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Stomach Anatomy

• Openings
• Gastroesophageal: To
esophagus
• Pyloric: To duodenum
• Regions
• Cardiac
• Fundus
• Body
• Pyloric

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Stomach Histology

• Layers
• Serosa or visceral
peritoneum: Outermost
• Muscularis: Three layers
• Outer longitudinal
• Middle circular
• Inner oblique
• Submucosa
• Mucosa
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Stomach Histology
• Rugae: Folds in stomach
when empty
• Gastric pits: Openings
for gastric glands
• Contain cells
• Surface mucous: Mucus
• Mucous neck: Mucus
• Parietal: Hydrochloric
acid and intrinsic factor
• Chief: Pepsinogen
• Endocrine: Regulatory
hormones

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 Hydrochloric Acid Production
1. Carbon dioxide (CO2) diffuses
into the parietal cell.
2. Carbon dioxide combines with
water (H2O) in an enzymatic
reaction that is catalyzed by
carbonic anhydrase (CA) to
form carbonic acid (H2CO3).
3. Carbonic acid dissociates into
a bicarbonate ion (HCO3–)
and a hydrogen ion (H+).
4. Bicarbonate ions are transported
back into the bloodstream. An
5. A H+ - K+ pump moves H+ into the
antiporter in the plasma
duct of the gastric gland and
membrane exchanges HCO3–
K+ into the parietal cell.
for a chloride ion (CI–).
6. Chloride ions diffuse into the
gastric gland duct. 24-
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Phases of Gastric Secretion

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Phases of Gastric Secretion

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 Movements in Stomach
3. Peristaltic waves (purple arrows) move in
the same direction and in the same way as the
mixing waves but are stronger.

4. Again, the more fluid part of the chyme is

pushed toward the pyloric region (blue
arrows), whereas the more solid center of the
chyme squeezes past the peristaltic constriction
back toward the body of the stomach (orange
arrow).

5. Peristaltic contractions force a few milliliters

1. A mixing wave initiated in the body of
of the mostly fluid chyme through the pyloric
the stomach progresses toward the
pyloric sphincter (pink arrows directed opening into the duodenum (small red arrows).
inward ). Most of the chyme, including the more solid
2. The more fluid part of the chyme is portion, is forced back toward the body of the
pushed toward the pyloric sphincter (blue stomach for further
arrows), whereas the more solid center of the
mixing (yellow arrow).
chyme
squeezes past the peristaltic constriction 24-
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back toward the body of the stomach
(orange arrow).
The STOMACH

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Small Intestine
• Site of greatest amount of
digestion and absorption
• Divisions
• Duodenum
• Jejunum
• Ileum: Peyer’s patches or
lymph nodules
• Modifications
• Circular folds or plicae
circulares, villi, lacteal,
microvilli
• Cells of mucosa
• Absorptive, goblet, granular,
endocrine

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 Small Intestine Secretions
• Mucus
• Protects against digestive enzymes and stomach acids
• Digestive enzymes
• Disaccharidases: Break down disaccharides to
monosaccharides
• Peptidases: Hydrolyze peptide bonds
• Nucleases: Break down nucleic acids
• Duodenal glands
• Stimulated by vagus nerve, secretin, chemical or
tactile irritation of duodenal mucosa
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Duodenum and Pancreas

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Duodenum Anatomy and Histology

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The SMALL INTESTINES

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Liver
• Lobes
• Major: Left and right
• Minor: Caudate and
quadrate
• Ducts
• Common hepatic
• Cystic
• From gallbladder
• Common bile
• Joins pancreatic duct at
hepatopancreatic ampulla

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 Functions of the Liver
• Bile production
• Salts emulsify fats, contain pigments as bilirubin
• Storage
• Glycogen, fat, vitamins, copper and iron
• Nutrient interconversion
• Detoxification
• Hepatocytes remove ammonia and convert to urea
• Phagocytosis
• Kupffer cells phagocytize worn-out and dying red and white blood cells,
some bacteria
• Synthesis
• Albumins, fibrinogen, globulins, heparin, clotting factors

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Blood and Bile Flow

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 Duct System
1. The hepatic ducts, which carry bile
from the liver lobes, combine to form
the common hepatic duct.

2. The common hepatic duct combines

with the cystic duct from the gallbladder
to form the common bile duct.

3. The common bile duct and the

pancreatic duct combine to form the
5. The accessory pancreatic duct hepatopancreatic ampulla.
empties pancreatic secretions into
the duodenum at the minor 4. The hepatopancreatic ampulla empties
duodenal papilla bile and pancreatic secretions into the
duodenum at the major duodenal 24-
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papilla.
 Gallbladder

• Bile is stored and concentrated

• Stimulated by cholecystokinin and vegal stimulation
• Dumps into small intestine
• Production of gallstones possible
• Drastic dieting with rapid weight loss

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 Pancreas

• Anatomy • Secretions
• Endocrine
• Pancreatic juice (exocrine)
• Trypsin
• Pancreatic islets produce
insulin and glucagon • Chymotrypsin

• Exocrine
• Carboxypeptidase
• Pancreatic amylase
• Acini produce digestive
enzymes • Pancreatic lipases

• Regions: Head, body, tail

• Enzymes that reduce DNA
and ribonucleic acid

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 Bicarbonate Ion Production
1. Water (H2O) and carbon
dioxide (CO2) combine under
the influence of carbonic
anhydrase (CA) to form
carbonic acid
(H2CO3).
2. Carbonic acid dissociates to
form hydrogen ions (H+)
and bicarbonate ions (HCO3
–).
4. The HCO3 – is transported into the intercalated
3. The H+ is exchanged for
ducts in exchange for Cl–, which returns to the lumen sodium ions (Na+) by an
by a channel. Sodium ions and H2O follow the HCO3
– into the ducts.
antiporter. Sodium ions are
5. The ions and H2O move through the intercalated removed by the Na+–K+ pump.
duct toward the interlobular duct. 24-
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Pancreatic Secretion Control

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 Large Intestine

• Extends from ileocecal junction to anus

• Consists of cecum, colon, rectum, anal canal
• Movements sluggish (18-24 hours) 24-38
 Large Intestine
• Cecum
• Blind sac, vermiform appendix attached
• Colon
• Ascending, transverse, descending, sigmoid
• Rectum
• Straight muscular tube
• Anal canal
• Internal anal sphincter (smooth muscle)
• External anal sphincter (skeletal muscle)
• Hemorrhoids: Vein enlargement or inflammation
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 Secretions of Large Intestine

• Mucus provides protection

• Parasympathetic stimulation increases rate of goblet cell
secretion
• Pumps
• Exchange of bicarbonate ions for chloride ions
• Exchange of sodium ions for hydrogen ions
• Bacterial actions produce gases called flatus
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Histology of Large Intestine

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 Movement in Large Intestine
• Mass movements
• Common after meals
• Local reflexes in enteric plexus
• Gastrocolic: Initiated by stomach
• Duodenocolic: Initiated by duodenum
• Defecation reflex
• Distension of the rectal wall by feces
• Defecation
• Usually accompanied by voluntary movements to expel feces
through abdominal cavity pressure caused by inspiration
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Reflexes in Colon and Rectum

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 Digestion, Absorption, Transport

• Digestion
• Breakdown of food molecules for absorption into circulation
• Mechanical: Breaks large food particles to small
• Chemical: Breaking of covalent bonds by digestive enzymes

• Absorption and transport

• Molecules are moved out of digestive tract and into circulation for
distribution throughout body

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 Carbohydrates

• Consist of starches, glycogen, sucrose, lactose, glucose, fructose

• Polysaccharides broken down to monosaccharides
• Monosaccharides taken up by active transport or facilitated diffusion and
carried to liver
• Glucose is transported to cells requiring energy
• Insulin influences rate of transport 24-45
 Lipids
1. Bile salts surround fatty acids and
monoglycerides to form micelles.

2. Micelles attach to the plasma membranes

of intestinal epithelial cells, and the fatty
acids and monoglycerides pass by simple
diffusion into the intestinal epithelial cells.

3. the intestinal epithelial cell, the fatty

acids and monoglycerides are converted to
triglycerides; proteins coat the triglycerides
to form chylomicrons, which move out of
the intestinal epithelial cells by exocytosis.

4. The chylomicrons enter the lacteals of the

intestinal villi and are carried through the
• lymphatic
Include triglycerides, phospholipids, system to
steroids, the general circulation.
fat-soluble
vitamins
• Emulsification breaks down large lipid droplets to small 24-46
Lipoproteins

• Types
• Chylomicrons
• Enter lymph
• VLDL
• LDL
• Transports cholesterol
to cells
• HDL
• Transports cholesterol
from cells to liver

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 Proteins

• Pepsin breaks proteins into smaller polypeptide chains

• Proteolytic enzymes produce small peptide chains
• Dipeptides, tripeptides, amino acids 24-48
Water and Ions

• Water
• Can move in either
direction across wall of
small intestine
depending on osmotic
gradients
• Ions
• Sodium, potassium,
calcium, magnesium,
phosphate are actively
transported

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 Effects of Aging

• Decrease in mucus layer, connective tissue, muscles and

secretions
• Increased susceptibility to infections and toxic agents
• Ulcerations and cancers

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