CHAPTER 3

Digestive System
Learning outcomes
• To outline the definition of heterotrophic nutrition.
• To outline and discuss the structure of the organs of the digestive
system and accessory organs.
General Structure
Digestion and absorption occurs in the
alimentary canal or gut – mouth to anus
Each region of the gut posses its own
special characteristics
However, all have a common basic
structure of four layers
• Mucosa
• Submucosa
• Muscularis externa
• Serosa
1 of
:::::
canal
General Structure-Mucosa
Innermost layer of the_BEB€mentary
gut canal

Has three layers

1. Epithelium
2. Lamina propria
3. Muscularis mucosa
Functions:
• Secretion of mucus :

• Absorption of the end products of digestion

• Protection against infectious disease
General Structure-Mucosa
1. Epithelium - Consists of simple columnar epithelium and mucus-
secreting goblet cells

The mucus secretions:

• Protect digestive organs from digesting themselves
• Ease food along the tract

• Some epithelial cells have microvilli on their free surfaces

• microvilli form a border that looks ‘fuzzy’ under the microscope – brush
border
and
of to the lumen to increase absorption
• function : increases the surface area the cell
exposed
secretion
General Structure-Mucosa
2. Lamina propria
• A basement membrane that the epithelial cells rest upon
• Contains a layer of connective tissue which holds the blood supply
and lymphatic vessels

3. Muscularis mucosa
• smooth muscle cells that produce local movements of mucosa
Layers

}
↳ epithelium
↳ lamina propria mucosa

Lp muscular is mucosa

↳ sub MUCOSA

↳ muscular is propria / externa

↳ adventitia / serosa
General Structure-Submucosa
This is a layer of connective tissue containing
• Collagen
• Elastic fibers
• Nerves
• Blood and lymph vessels
General Structure-Muscularis Externa
• Composed of inner circular and outer longitudinal layer of smooth
muscle
• Smooth muscle is under involuntary control from the brain
• Coordinated movements of the two layers provide peristaltic
movements of the gut wall
• forces the food along while mixes the food
General Structure-Serosa
Outermost coat the gut wall
Compost of loose connective tissue
The entire outer surface of the gut is covered – peritoneum
Peritoneum
• Lines the abdominal cavity
• holds up and suspends the stomach and intestines from the abdominal wall
• Is moist to reduce friction as the gut walls slides over itself and other organs
Stages of Food Processing
1. Ingestion – process of taking in food
2. Digestion – breakdown of food into small
molecules
3. Absorption – absorption of the products of
digestion
4. Elimination – undigested materials passes
out of digestive tract
 organs
1) mouth -

2) salivary glands
3) esophagus
4) stomach
5) liver

6) gallbladder
7) pancreas

8) kidney

:
11 ) anus

small intestines

large intestines
 Human Digestive System

Animation
Digestive Organ
– Mouth (Oral Cavity)
Oral or buccal cavity:
• Is bounded by lips, cheeks, palate, and
tongue

Functions include:
• Gripping and repositioning food during
chewing
• Mixing food with saliva and forming the
bolus
• Initiation of swallowing, and speech
Salivary Glands
 Groups of specialized secretory cells
 Physical digestion
• Mechanically broken to fine pieces
 Chemical digestion
• Saliva - watery substance containing
amylase and lysozyme, mucus and
various mineral salts
• Amylase  starch digestion
• Lysozyme kills bacteria that might
be present in the food by breaking
down the cell membrane
D. ball -

like mixture of food & saliva .

 Partially digested food forms a bolus then

is pushed towards the pharynx
swallowed into the esophagus
(reflex action)
Esophagus
• Muscular tube going from the laryngopharynx to
the stomach

• Movement of digestive materials (bolus) by

muscular layers of digestive tract
1. Consist of visceral smooth muscle tissue
2. Along digestive tract
• Has rhythmic cycles of activity cardiac impulse .

µ
>

3. Cells undergo spontaneous depolarization

• Triggering wave of contraction through entire
muscular sheet
Peristaltic Motion
1. Circular muscles contract behind bolus
• While circular muscles ahead of bolus relax
2. Longitudinal muscles ahead of bolus contract
• Shortening adjacent segments
3. Wave of contraction in circular muscles
• Forces bolus forward
↳ and into the small intestines .
Stomach
• Muscular bag that can stretch to take in food

• Temporarily food storage

• Chemical breakdown of proteins begins and

food is converted to chyme

• Mechanically and chemically break down of

food

• Efficient  Three layers of muscles

(Longitudinal, circular and inner oblique muscles)
 that and close passages in the to regulate substances
circular muscles opens body
.

☐
spinchter are

Cardiac sphincter
sphi & pyloric sphincter
• CS - At the junction of the oesophagus and the stomach
• PS – at the junction of the stomach and duodenum
Both act as ‘valves’ to prevent uncontrolled exit of food from their
respective entry point
• The PS relaxes at regular intervals to release chyme (food mixed with gastric
juice) into the duodenum
They also help retain food within the stomach up to 4 hours
 Question
What is heartburn?
reflux of when
acid
to
stomach acid travels up
stomach
from your
.

your throat
Microscopic Anatomy of the Stomach

Goblet cells  Mucus secreting

cells in thick mucosa

Stomach is dotted with gastric

pits that lead into long tubular
gastric glands

The glands are lined with two

types of cells: parietal and chief
cells
Parietal cells secrete dilute HCl acid (pH 1.5-2.5 in stomach)
• Hydrolysis of sucrose
• Denature proteins
• Fibrous protein digestions like collagen
• Defense mechanism against bacteria

Chief cells (zymogen cells) secrete

• pepsinogen  pepsin (hydrolyses protein into smaller polypeptides)
• prorennin  renin (coagulate casein into insoluble casein-calcium molecule.
This insoluble molecule is then digested by pepsin)
Small Intestine
Major digestive organ
90% of nutrients absorbed
(remaining absorbed in large
intestine)
Has three subdivisions:
1. Duodenum
• Pancreatic, gall bladder and
bile ducts open to it
• Secretes alkaline fluid
2. Jejunum
• Absorption of nutrients and
water
3. Ileum
• Absorption of nutrients and
water
Small Intestine: Microscopic Anatomy
Small Intestine
Structural modifications of the small
intestine wall increase surface area:
• Villi – fingerlike extensions of the mucosa
– walls have rich supply of blood
supply, lymph vessels
• Microvilli – tiny projections of absorptive
mucosal cells’ plasma membranes
The epithelium of the mucosa is made
up of:
• Absorptive cells and goblet cells
Small Intestine Digestion
breakdown of substance by H2O
> chemical
µ

• Hydrolysis of
(i) dissaccharide → monosaccharides (some start at the
stomach but finish up the process here)
(ii) dipeptides and tripeptides → amino acids produced
Small Intestine Absorption
Absorption through the villi:
A) Monosaccharides, dipeptides, amino
acids (Diffusion or active transport)
B) Triglyceride
- Coated by the protein called chylomicrons
- chylomicrons enter the lymph → veins
near the heart → enter the blood
C) water, inorganic salts, vitamins

• From here the small intestinal products move into

the large intestine [ileum to cecum]
Accessory organs - Liver
nai
Hinter
• The largest visceral organ of the body
• The liver is involved in:
Metabolic regulation
 All blood leaving the digestive tract enters the liver through the hepatic portal system •
Hepatocytes will adjust the circulating metabolites before the blood enters into systemic
circulation
Hematological regulation
 largest blood reservoir of the body
 As blood passes through the liver: • Phagocytic cells remove old or damaged
erythrocytes • Liver cells synthesize plasma proteins for blood clotting (for example)
 fluid that is made and released by the liver & stored in the gallbladder .

BILE : is a

Accessory organs - Liver

fat into tatty acid .

> breaks down

µ

Bile Production
• Made by liver cells - Hepatocytes
• Stored in the gallbladder
• Secreted into the duodenum when it is
needed
• Emulsifies fat (from the diet) in the small
intestine
makes it easier for lipase to do the actual
digestion of fat
 LIST OF Accessories organs
that
↳ pancreas
: contains pancreatic juice
breaks down starches , sugars A fats .

Accessory organs - Pancreas ↳ liver

↳ salivary
:
producer

gland
of

:
bile

secretes saliva that

amylase
that aids
contains ✗ lysozyme
digestion .

stores bite
↳ gallbladder :

Located next to the stomach

1. Made of glandular epithelial

cells
2. Pancreatic islets of Langerhans)
(1% of all cells)
a. Hormones: glucagon, insulin,
somatostatin
3. Acini - (99% of the cells in
pancreas)
a. mixture of enzymes called
"pancreatic juice"
↳ the enzymes breaks down sugars ,
fats & starches
Large intestine
Is subdivided into the cecum,
appendix, colon, rectum, and anal
canal
No digestion occurs here
Most of fluids have already been
absorbed in the small intestine
90% of the remaining fluid is
reabsorbed in the cecum and colon.
Solid materials pass through –
undigestible solids (fibres)
Rectum-solid wastes exit the body
Excretion
• Undigested food material consisting of mainly
cellulose, secretions from the intestines and other
organs and plenty of water
• Remains in the colon before being passed into the
rectum where it is stored briefly
• Followed by egestion through the anus

Anus
• internal sphincter - smooth muscle (involuntary)
• external sphincter - skeletal muscle (voluntary)
Mesentery '

Structure that connects your intestine to your

abdomen.
Mesentery
• Coffey and O’Leary (2016) classified mesentery as an organ inside the human body
which hasn’t been acknowledged as such to date.
Mesentery
It was previously thought to be just a few
fragmented and separated structures in the
digestive system.
 Now is regarded as contiguous organ

Emerges from the superior mesenteric

root region and fans out to span the
intestine from duodenum to rectum

Suspension of the mesentery prevents the

intestine collapsing into the pelvis.
Digestive Disorders
Ulcers
• Erosion of the surface of the
alimentary canal generally
associated with some kind of
irritant
• Causes: infection and long term
use of medications
Digestive Disorders
Constipation
• A condition in which the large intestine is emptied with difficulty
• Too much water is reabsorbed and solid waste hardens

Diarrhea
• A gastrointestinal disturbance characterized by decreased water
absorption and increased peristaltic activity of the large intestine
• This results in increased, multiple, watery feces
Severe dehydration, especially infants
Digestive Disorders
Appendicitis
• An inflammation of the appendix due to infection
• Common treatment is removal of the appendix via surgery
Digestive Disorders
Gallstones
• An accumulation of hardened
cholesterol and/or calcium deposits
in the gallbladder