Digestive System Flashcards
6 functions of digestive system
1) Ingestion
2) Propulsion: Movement of food via peristalsis
3) Mechanical breakdown: Increases surface area of food by chewing, stomach churning, and segmentation
4) Digestion: Breakdown of food into chemical building blocks via enzymes
5) Absorption: Digested end products, water, vitamins, and minerals cross lumen of GI tract into blood or lymph vessels
6) Defecation: Elimination of indigestible waste
Segmentation (water balloon squeezed from both ends and mix inside) mixes food with digestive juices and makes absorption more efficient by
repeatedly moving different parts of the food mass over the intestinal wall
alimentary canal
Gastrointestinal (GI) tract–Digests food (i.e., breaks it down into smaller fragments) and absorbs molecules
~30 feet long
–Inside GI tract is considered “outside” the body because tube is open at both ends
Accessory digestive organs
Aid digestion
Teeth, tongue, gall bladder
Glands: Salivary glands, liver, pancreas (which connect to GI tract via ducts)
,Mesentery
Double layer of peritoneum (a double double membrane)
Two serous membranes fused back-to-back
routes for blood vessels, lymphatics, and nerves to reach digestive viscera
Hold organs in place
Store fat
Inflammation of peritoneum
Peritonitis (often lethal)
Peritonitis causes
Most common: Burst appendix that sprays bacteria-containing feces all over peritoneum
Piercing abdominal wound
Perforating ulcer that leaks stomach juices into the peritoneal cavity
Infection acquired during abdominal surgery
Mucosa (mucous membrane)
Innermost layer: Secretes mucus, digestive enzymes, hormones
Absorbs end products into blood
Protects against disease
1st sublayer of mucosa
Simple columnar epithelium (in most places)
mucus-producing cells protect organs from being digested by own juices; some places enzyme-producing and hormone-secreting cells
2nd sublayer of mucosa: lamina propria
(loose areolar connective tissue)
Capillaries nourish epithelium and absorb nutrients
MALT (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue) protects us from pathogens
3rd sublayer of mucosa: Muscularis muscosae
Scant sublayer of smooth muscle movement helps with absorption and secretion
Submucosa
Loose areolar connective tissue
contain blood and lymph vessels, lymphoid follicles, nerve fibers
Muscularis externa
two layers smooth muscle (peristalsis and segmentation)
sphincters
Serosa
Outermost layer
visceral peritoneum
Areolar connective + simple squamous epithelium (mesothelium)
Muscle fibers run parallel to long axis of organ
Contraction shortens organ
longitudinal layer
Fibers run circumference of organ
Contraction constricts the lumen (cavity inside)
This layer forms sphincters
circular layer
Splanchic Circulation
arteries serve digestive organs and hepatic portal circulation
–receives about 25% of cardiac output (plus after eating)
Hepatic Portal Circulation
collects nutrient-rich venous blood from digestive organs and delivers it to liver
Enteric System
GI tract’s own nervous system (Semiautonomous)
Regulating Digestion
=>Receptors in walls of GI tract provoked by chemical and mechanical stimuli
=>Effectors of digestive activity include smooth muscle (peristalsis, segmentation) and glands (which secrete enzymes, hormones, etc.)
=>Neurons (intrinsic and extrinsic) and hormones control digestive activity
Short Reflex Arc
mediated by enteric nervous system (ENS) in response to stimuli within GI tract
Regulates segmentation and peristalsis
Involves pacemaker cells and reflex arcs between enteric neurons (“intrinsic control”)
Long Reflex Arc
ENS and CNS
Initiated by stimuli
Enteric nervous system sends info to CNS, receives impulses from autonomic nervous system (“extrinsic control”)
Sympathetic response “turns off” digestion
Parasympathetic response “Turns on” digestion
oral cavity
mouth