3.4: Physiology of the GI Tract Flashcards
The digestive system has four main roles that it performs what are they?.
ingestion, digestion, absorption, and defecation
______ is when food enters the mouth.
Ingestion
______ occurs when food is moved, mixed, and exposed to enzymes along the gastrointestinal tract.
Digestion or food breakdown
Digestion can be divided into two parts what are they?
mechanical digestion and chemical digestion
______ digestion occurs when food is physically broken down into smaller pieces.
Mechanical
______ digestion occurs when the teeth chew food, when the stomach churns and mixes food, and as food is moved and squeezed along the gastrointestinal tract.
Mechanical
_____ digestion is the chemical breakdown of food by enzymes into smaller nutrients.
Chemical
______ is the process of moving digested food into the bloodstream.
Absorption
______ is the excretion of indigestible food from the anus.
Defecation
True or False: The mouth is where digestion begins, but only mechanical.
False. The mouth is where digestion begins, BOTH mechanical AND chemical.
How does the mouth Chemically digest food?
Chemically, saliva is released by the salivary glands. NOTE the locations of the parotid, sublingual, and submandibular glands
The enzyme___1___ contained in the saliva begins the chemical breakdown of ___2___.
- salivary amylase
- starches
How does the mouth Mechanically digest food?
Mechanically, the food is broken down into smaller physical pieces by both the teeth and tongue.
What is the food in the mouth called after it has been chewed?
The food is then called a bolus.
______, rhythmic muscular contractions, moves the food along the esophagus to the stomach.
Peristalsis
What is Peristalsis?
Rhythmic muscular contractions that moves food along the esophagus to the stomach.
True or False: No ingestion, digestion, absorption, or defecation takes place in the pharynx or esophagus. These structures only transport the food from the mouth to stomach by peristalsis.
True
Midsagittal view of the oral cavity and associated salivary glands (parotid, sublingual, and submandibular)
Once in the stomach, mechanical and chemical breakdown of food continues with the secretion of ______.
digestive juices
True or False: Substantial nutrient absorption occurs in the stomach.
False. Very little to no nutrient absorption occurs in the stomach.
The stomach’s main function is for ______.
mechanical and chemical breakdown of food
The ___1___ stimulates the stomach to secrete gastric juices, which contains: ___2___, ___3___, and ___4___
- hormone gastrin
- pepsinogens
- mucus
- hydrochloric acid
The ___1___ secrete hydrochloric acid, generating a pH of ___2___.
- parietal cells (located in the wall of the stomach body)
- 1.3-3.5
The parietal cells (located in the wall of the stomach body) secrete ______, generating a pH of 1.3-3.5.
hydrochloric acid
True or False: The very acidic pH of the hydrochloric acid produced by the Parietal cells of the stomach kill many of the bacteria ingested along with food. In addition, the low pH stops the activity of salivary amylase.
True
The secretion of hydrochloric acid is essential in the activation of ______.
pepsin
______ is secreted by the chief cells in the stomach.
Pepsinogen (a pro-enzyme)
Hydrochloric acid converts the___1___ into the active enzyme pepsin, which begins the breakdown of ___2___.
- inactive pepsinogen (secreted by the chief cells)
- proteins
______ protects the stomach lining from the hydrochloric acid and pepsinogens.
Mucus
The ______ churns and mixes the food, breaking it into smaller pieces.
muscularis externa
The smaller pieces allow for more ___1___ of the food to be exposed to the enzymes in the stomach to form ___2___.
- surface area
- chyme
___1___ moves the food toward the small intestine where the ___2___ controls the slow release of chyme into the ___3___.
- Peristalsis
- pyloric sphincter
- duodenum
In the small intestine digestion continues and ______ begins.
absorption
Enzymes from the ___1___ enter the small intestine to continue digestion of ___2___, and begin digestion of ___3___.
- pancreatic juices
- starches and proteins
- fat
______, which result from the first step in protein digestion, are digested by peptidases to amino acids.
Peptides
Peptides, which result from the first step in protein digestion, are digested by ___1___ to ___2___.
- peptidases
- amino acids
______, which results from the first step in starch digestion, is digested by maltase to glucose.
Maltose
Maltose, which results from the first step in starch digestion, is digested by ___1___ to ___2___.
- maltase
- glucose
Pancreatic juice includes three enzymes. What are they and what do they digest?
- amylase digests starch
- trypsin digests proteins
- lipase digests fats
______, which is also contained in the pancreatic juice, neutralizes the acidic chyme.
Bicarbonate