Digestion and absorption Flashcards
What are the organs of the GI tract?
Mouth, salivary gland, stomach, pancreas, liver, gall bladder, small intestine, large intestine
What does the mouth do?
Mechanical digestion
What does the salivary gland do?
Secretes fluid and digestive enzymes
What does the stomach do?
Body of stomach secretes mucus, pepsinogen and HCl; antrum of stomach secretes mucus, pepsinogen and gastrin; stores large quantities of food until it can be accommodated in intestines; mixes food with gastic secretions to form a homogenous, acidic chyme; regulates rate of emptying chyme into duodenum; secretes intrinsic factor
What does HCl do within the stomach?
Activates pepsin from pepsinogen; kills many pathogens; denatures and breaks down food proteins so are more vulnerable to enzyme action; inactivates hormones of foreign origin; increases absorption of Fe and Ca
What does gastrin do?
Stimulates motility and HCl production
What is intrinsic factor necessary for?
Vitamin B12 absorption
What does the pancreas do?
Secretes NaHCO3 (to neutralise acidic content from stomach) and digestive enzymes
What does the liver do?
Secretes bile
What does the gall bladder do?
Temporarily stores bile; makes more concentrated
What do the small intestines do?
Absorb water, nutrients, and electrolytes
How does the small intestine have such a large SA?
Has folds of kreckring, villi, and microvilli; villi have folds in mucosal layer, microvilli, and brush border membrane of mucosal epithelial cells
What do the large intestines do?
Absorb small amount of water and electrolytes; contains large colony of bacteria which: metabolise fibre to SCFA, which can be absorbed by diffusion; and produce Vitamin K
How many litres of chyme enters the large intestines each day?
1.5l
What is peristalsis?
The contraction of adjacent segments of the GI tract in sequence
What are the enzymes involved in the digestion of carbs, and the reactions they catalyse?
Salivary amylase: starch –> dextrins and maltose. Pancreatic amylase: dextrins –> maltose. In small intestine:- lactase: lactose –> galactose + glucose; maltase: maltose –> glucose + glucose; sucrase: sucrose –> fructose + glucose