THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT

Functions of GI tract

Ingestion  -  digestion  -  absorption  -  elimination

Ingestion    

The taking in of food

Digestion   

This is in two parts

a.         Mechanical digestion, increases surface area

b.         Chemical digestion, breaks up complex molecules into simple ones

Absorption   

Passage from the gut in to the blood or lymphatic systems

Elimination

Waste products remain in the bowel after absorption, these are expelled as
faeces

Components of the gastrointestinal tract

Organs and structures

Lips,  Tongue,  Teeth,  Pharynx,  Epiglottis,  Oesophagus,  Cardiac sphincter,

Stomach,  Pyloric sphincter,  Small Intestine,  (Duodenum,  Jejunum,  Ileum),
Ileocaecal valve,  Colon,  (Ascending,  Transverse,  Descending),  Appendix,
Caecum,  Rectum, Anus,

Accessory organs

3 pairs of salivary glands                 Pancreas                   Liver, Gall Bladder

Function of components

Mouth and Nose

Taste and smell

Mechanical processes - mastication

Saliva  - cleans          lubricates       digests (an enzyme)

Optimum pH 6.8

Salivary amylase Starch --- maltose

Tongue involved in swallowing

Epiglottis

Guards entrance to airways

Oesophagus

Passage of food bolus to stomach

Peristalsis

Longitudinal muscle – outside                     Circular muscle     - inside

 
Stomach

Greater and lesser curvature

Fundus, body and pyloric regions

Has an oblique inner muscular layer

Reservoir       Mixes food, (chyme) Absorption                 Intrinsic factor

Gastric juice

Secreted by glands in the mucosa  Hydrochloric acid      Pepsinogen

Pepsin starts protein digestion                   Optimum pH is 1.5 - 3.5

Small intestine

About 5 metres long

Duodenum

Midpoint sphincter of Oddi   (the billary tract)

Bile

Excretion of bilirubin Emulsify fats              Colours and deodorises faeces

Pancreatic juice

Optimum pH 6 - 8

Proteolytic activity
Trypsinogen --- trypsin

Chymotrypsinogen --- Chymotrypsin

Converted by enteropeptidase in intestinal juice

Carbohydrate digesting activity

Pancreatic amylase

Polysaccharides  -----disaccharides

Fat digesting activity

Lipase

Fats --- fatty acids and glycerol

Jejunum and Ileum

Intestinal juice

Succus entericus                               enteropeptidase

Surface area inside small intestine

1. Circular folds                     2. Villi                          3. Microvilli

Total absorptive area - 250 square meters

Enterocytes in walls of villi

Peptidases                            Lipase                        Sucrose, maltase, lactase

Final digestion mostly in cells of villi

Absorption

Proteins

Carbohydrates

Fats

Mineral salts

Vitamins

Water

Fibre

Amino acids --- capillaries of villi

Fatty acids and glycerol ---- lacteal

Diffusion

Active transport

Ileum joins colon via ileocaecal valve

Colon (Large Intestine)

Caecum, appendix, ascending colon, hepatic flexure, transverse colon, splenic

flexure, descending, rectum, anus.

Absorption/faeces formation

0.5 - 1.0 litres of fluid enter the colon per day, about 100 mls leave

Faeces is semi-solid
Mineral salts and vitamins are also absorbed

Microbial activity

Natural bacterial flora symbolically produce vitamin K and folic acid

Coliforms are pathogenic in other places

Gases produced pass out as flatus

Defecation

Peristalsis is more intermittent than small bowel

Mass movement

The gastro-colonic reflex

Faecal material in the rectum stimulates stretch receptors

Anus relaxes under voluntary control

Rectum contracts under autonomic control

Diaphragm goes down and abdominal muscles contract