Digestive

System
Physiology
J E S S A MA RI E M. C A P ARAS, P T RP
 Ingestion - taking food into mouth

Secretion - release of water, acid, buffers, and

enzymes into lumen of GI tract

Functions of Mixing and propulsion - churning and movement

of food through GI tract
the Digestive
System: Digestion - mechanical and chemical
breakdown of food

Absorption - passage of digested products from

GI tract into blood and lymph

Defecation - elimination of feces from GI tract

Organs of the Digestive System:
GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT
ACCESSORY ORGANS
(ALIMENTARY CANAL)
 Mouth  Teeth
 Pharynx  Tongue
 Esophagus  Salivary Glands
 Stomach  Liver
 Small Intestine  Gallbladder
 Large Intestine  Pancreas
 Rectum
  The mechanical grinding of food into smaller
pieces by teeth; breaks down food so that it can
go through the esophagus to the stomach
 Incisors and canines primarily cut and tear foods
while the premolars crush and grind it
Mastication  Significance:
(Chewing) 1. Breaks the food into small pieces to be easily
swallowed
2. Expose food to salivary enzyme called amylase,
which begins digestion of starch
3. Help digestion of all types of food especially
cellulose containing food e.g. vegetables
  Movement of food from the mouth into the
stomach
Deglutition  Can be divided into 3 Phases:
(Swallowing)
1. Voluntary Stage - bolus is passed into the oropharynx
2. Pharyngeal Stage - involuntary passage of the bolus through the
pharynx into the esophagus
3. Esophageal Stage - involuntary passage of the bolus through the
esophagus into the stomach
Peristalsis
 A series of wave-like
muscle contractions that
moves food to different
processing stations in the
digestive tract
Stomach
 Functions:
1. Mixes saliva, food, and gastric juice to form chyme
2. Serves as reservoir for food before release into small
intestine
3. Secretes gastric juice, which contains HCl , pepsin ,
intrinsic factor and gastric lipase
4. Secretes gastrin into blood

 3 types of exocrine gland cells:

• Mucous neck cells - secrete mucous
• Chief cells - secrete pepsinogen and gastric lipase
• Parietal cells - produce intrinsic factor (needed for
absorption of vitamin B12) and hydrochloric acid
Mechanical and
Chemical Digestion in
the Stomach
 Movements in the Stomach:
• Propulsion - moves gastric contents from
the body of the stomach down into the
antrum
• Retropulsion - most food particles in the
stomach initially are too large to fit
through the narrow pyloric sphincter, they
are forced back into the body of the
stomach
• Gastric Emptying - food particles in chyme
are small enough, they can pass through
the pyloric sphincter
Pancreas
• Produces digestive enzymes to digest fats,
carbohydrates and proteins
• Regulates blood sugar by producing insulin
• Produces 1200–1500 mL (about 1.2–1.5 qt) of
pancreatic juice
• clear, colorless liquid consisting mostly of water, some salts, sodium
bicarbonate, and several enzymes
• Pancreatic amylase – starch digesting enzyme
• Trypsin, Chymotrypsin, Carboxypeptidase, Elastase – enzyme that
digests proteins to peptides
• Pancreatic lipase – principal triglyceride digesting enzymes in
adults
Liver and Gallbladder
 Liver
• Directly affects digestion by producing bile
• A yellow brownish liquid secreted by hepatocytes from 800-1000mL
(1 qt.)/day
• consists mostly of water, bile salts, cholesterol, a phospholipid called
lecithin, bile pigments, and several ions
• play a role in emulsification, the breakdown of large lipid globules
into a suspension of small lipid globules

 Gallbladder
• Stores bile from the liver, releases it into the small
intestine
 Small Intestine
• Most digestion and absorption of nutrients occur
• About 1–2 liters (1–2 qt) of intestinal juice, a clear yellow fluid, is
secreted each day. Intestinal juice contains water and mucus
and is slightly alkaline (pH 7.6)
• 2 types of movements:
• Segmentation - localized, mixing contractions that occur in
portions of intestine distended by a large volume of chyme;
mix chyme with the digestive juices and bring the particles
of food into contact with the mucosa for absorption; occur
most rapidly in the duodenum, about 12 times per minute,
and progressively slow to about 8 times per minute in the
ileum
• Migrating Motility Complex - begins in the lower portion of
the stomach and pushes chyme forward along a short
stretch of small intestine before dying out; slowly migrates
down the small intestine, reaching the end of the ileum in
90–120 minutes
• Altogether, chyme remains in the small intestine for 3–5 hours.
Chemical Digestion in the Small
Intestine
 Digestion of Carbohydrates
• Digestion of carbohydrates ends with the production
of monosaccharides, which the digestive system is
able to absorb
• brush-border enzyme called a-dextrinase
Chemical Digestion in the Small
Intestine
 Digestion of Proteins
 Protein digestion is completed by two peptidases in
the brush border:
 Aminopeptidase - cleaves off the amino acid at the amino
end of a peptide
 Dipeptidase - splits dipeptides (two amino acids joined by a
peptide bond) into single amino acids
Chemical Digestion in the Small
Intestine
 Digestion of Lipids
 Although some lipid digestion occurs in the stomach through the action of lingual
and gastric lipases, most occurs in the small intestine through the action of
pancreatic lipase
 Pancreatic lipase breaks down each triglyceride into two free fatty acids and a
monoglyceride
 Done through the process of emulsification by bile salts
 The amphipathic nature of bile salts allows them to emulsify a large lipid globule: The
hydrophobic regions of bile salts interact with the large lipid globule, while the hydrophilic
regions of bile salts interact with the watery intestinal chyme
Chemical Digestion in the Small
Intestine
 Digestion of Nucleic Acid
 Pancreatic juice contains two nucleases: ribonuclease, which digests RNA, and
deoxyribonuclease, which digests DNA
 The nucleotides that result from the action of the two nucleases are further digested
by brush-border enzymes called nucleosidases and phosphatases into pentoses,
phosphates, and nitrogenous bases
 These products are absorbed via active transport
  About 90% of all absorption of nutrients occurs in
Absorption in the small intestine; the other 10% occurs in the
stomach and large intestine
the Small Any undigested or unabsorbed material left in the
Intestine small intestine passes on to the large intestine
Absorption in the Small Intestine
 Monosaccharides  Amino Acids, Dipeptides, Tripeptides
• All carbohydrates are absorbed as • Most proteins are absorbed as amino acids
monosaccharides via active transport processes that occur
mainly in the duodenum and jejunum
• The capacity of the small intestine to
absorb monosaccharides is huge, an • 95–98% of the protein present in the small
estimated 120 grams per hour intestine is digested and absorbed
• Monosaccharides pass from the lumen
through the apical membrane via
facilitated diffusion or active transport
Absorption in the Small Intestine
 Lipids and Bile Salts
• Small short-chain fatty acids are more
water-soluble. They can dissolve in the
watery intestinal chyme, pass through the
absorptive cells via simple diffusion, and
follow the same route taken by
monosaccharides and amino acids into a
blood capillary of a villus
• The large and hydrophobic long-chain
fatty acids and monoglycerides are not so
easily suspended in the watery intestinal
chyme. However, bile salts and lecithin
resolve this issue by enclosing them in
a micelle
 Electrolytes
• Most of the sodium ions in gastrointestinal
secretions are reclaimed and not lost in the
feces. Negatively charged bicarbonate,
chloride, iodide, and nitrate ions can
passively follow sodium ions or be actively
transported.
•Calcium ions also are absorbed actively in
a process stimulated by calcitriol.
• Other electrolytes such as iron, potassium,
magnesium, and phosphate ions also are
absorbed via active transport mechanisms
Absorption in the Small Intestine
 Vitamins
• Fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K are
included with ingested dietary lipids in
micelles and are absorbed via simple
diffusion
• Most water-soluble vitamins, such as
most B vitamins and vitamin C, also are
absorbed via simple diffusion
• Vitamin B12, however, combines with
intrinsic factor produced by the
stomach, and the combination is
absorbed in the ileum via an active
transport mechanism
 Water
• The total volume of fluid that enters the
small intestine each day is about 9.3 liters
(9.8 qt) comes from ingestion of liquids
(about 2.3 liters) and from various
gastrointestinal secretions (about 7.0
liters)
• Only 0.1 liter (100 mL) of water is
excreted in the feces each day
• All water absorption in the GI tract
occurs via osmosis from the lumen of the
intestines through absorptive cells and
into blood capillaries; depends on the
absorption of electrolytes and nutrients
to maintain an osmotic balance with the
blood
Large Intestine
 Functions:
1. Haustral churning, peristalsis, and mass peristalsis
drive contents of colon into rectum
2. Bacteria in large intestine convert proteins to amino
acids, break down amino acids, and produce some
B vitamins and vitamin K
3. Absorption of some water, ions, and vitamins
4. Formation of feces
5. Defecation (emptying rectum)
  Gastroileal Reflex
• stimulated by the presence of food in the stomach and gastric
peristalsis
• intensifies peristalsis in the ileum and forces any chyme into the
cecum
• Whenever the cecum is distended, the degree of contraction of
the ileocecal sphincter intensifies

Mechanical  As food passes through the ileocecal sphincter, it fills the

cecum and accumulates in the ascending colon.

Digestion in  Movements in the Large Intestine:

• Haustral Churning - haustra remain relaxed and become
the Large distended while they fill up. When the distension reaches a
certain point, the walls contract and squeeze the contents into

Intestine
the next haustrum
• Mass Peristalsis - a strong peristaltic wave that begins at about
the middle of the transverse colon and quickly drives the
contents of the colon into the rectum (urge to defecate)

 Gastrocolic Reflex/Response
• It involves an increase in motility of the colon consisting primarily
of giant migrating contractions, or mass movements, in response
to stretch in the stomach and byproducts of digestion in
the small intestine. Thus, this reflex is responsible for the urge to
defecate following a meal
 • The final stage of digestion occurs in the colon
through the activity of bacteria that inhabit the
lumen
• Ferment any remaining carbohydrates and release
Chemical hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane gases
(contribute to flatus)
Digestion in • Convert any remaining proteins to amino acids and
the Large break down the amino acids into simpler substances:
indole, skatole, hydrogen sulfide, and fatty acids
Intestine • Some of the indole and skatole is eliminated in the feces and
contributes to their odor; the rest is absorbed and transported to
the liver, where these compounds are converted to less toxic
compounds and excreted in the urine
• Decompose bilirubin to simpler pigments, including
stercobilin, which gives feces their brown color
  Feces consist of water, inorganic salts, sloughed-
off epithelial cells from the mucosa of the
gastrointestinal tract, bacteria, products of
bacterial decomposition, unabsorbed digested
materials, and indigestible parts of food
Absorption  Defecation Reflex
and Feces • Defecation - elimination of feces from the rectum
Formation through the anus
• Mass peristaltic movements push fecal material from
the sigmoid colon into the rectum. The resulting
distension of the rectal wall stimulates stretch
receptors that initiates defecation reflex
Diarrhea Constipation
• an increase in the frequency, volume, • refers to infrequent or difficult
and fluid content of the feces caused by defecation caused by decreased
increased motility of and decreased motility of the intestines
absorption by the intestines
• feces remain in the colon for prolonged
• chyme passes too quickly through the periods, excessive water absorption
small intestine and feces pass too quickly occurs, and the feces become dry and
through the large intestine, there is not hard
enough time for absorption
• may be caused by poor habits
• may be caused by lactose intolerance, (delaying defecation), spasms of the
stress, and microbes that irritate the colon, insufficient fiber in the diet,
gastrointestinal mucosa inadequate fluid intake, lack of exercise,
emotional stress, and certain drugs
END. THANK YOU!