Gastrointestinal Physio L1-3 Flashcards
What is the digestive system composed of?
- GI tract - concentric muscle clinders lined w/an epithelium (from esophagus to rectum)
- Accesory organs - teeth, tongue, salivary glands, liver, pancreas
Name acessory organs of the digestive system.
Teeth, tongue, salivary glands, liver, pancreas
True or False. The proximal stomach has many contractions and serves to break down food.
False
* The proximal stomach serves as a storage.
* The gastric pump contracts and mixes the food w/acid and enzymes.
Explain the general route of which food travels through the digestive system.
Include hypotheticals from a ruminant.
- Salivary glands produce the first secretion of the GI
- Then moves to fermentation chamber in ruminants (omasum, rumen, & reticulum)
- Then to stomach (abomasum)
- Receives secretions from liver, gallbladder, and pancreas
- Then small intestine to colon to rectum
- The nutrients travel into blood and unwanted stuff travel to lymphatics
What are identifying characteristics for carnivore GI tracts?
A big stomach and a relatively short GI tract.
* proximal part for food storage
What are identifying characteristics for ruminant GI tracts?
Fermentation in the forestomachs
* prior to the abomasum (true stomach)
* Rumen is the huge fermentation chamber (reticulum & omasum other components)
What are identifying characteristics for equine GI tracts?
Fermentation in the large intestine
* Horses = Simple-stomached herbivores
* Small stomach, huge large intestine
What are identifying characteristics for avian GI tracts?
Food storage (the crop), a glandular stomach (pro-ventriculus), and a muscular stomach (gizzard)
* crop + pro-ventriculus + gizzard = true stomach of a monogastric animal
What are the major functions of the GI tract?
- Transportation of food
- Secretion of digestive juices & digestion of food in absorbable particles
- Absorption of food components & transport into the blood
- Regulation of water & electrolyte balance
- Immunologic barrier (GALT)
- Thermoregulation (fluid intake, panting in dogs)
What is prehension?
How food is grabbed. Each species differ in feeding behaviors.
How does prehension occur in Horses?
Lips (when eating from manger) or incissors (when grazing)
How does prehension occur in Cattle?
Tongue (wrap the tongue around forage) & incissors
How does prehension occur in Goat & Sheep?
Tongue & Lips
How does prehension occur in Pigs?
Snout & Mandible
How does prehension occur in carnivorous animals?
Canines, incisors, and forelimbs.
What is mastication?
The first act of digestion, involves the actions of the teeth, jaws, tongue, and cheecks.
What are the key features of mastication in carnivorous animals?
- Very sparsely, movement of the mandible are vertical
- Molars & premolars in the upper & lower jaws move against each other like scissor blades
What are the key features of mastication in herbivorous animals?
- Spend a long time masticating
- Upper & lower jaws are large, providing room for teeth w/large chewing surfaces
- Mastication movements are horizontal
- Ruminants –> Regurgitation, Remastication
True or False. When carnivores chew, they mostly use their canines.
False
* Canines are used to hunt/kill
* Carnassials are used to eat & act like scissors
How does the structure of herbivorous teeth allow for a lot of chewing?
- Enamel is the hardest material in body
- Folds provide inner cutting surface
During/after mastication, ____________ of different GI tract segments is activated.
a. ridgidity
b. absorption
c. storage
d. motility
(D) - During/after mastication, MOTILITY of different GI tract segments is activated.
What are the functions of movements of the GI tract?
- To propel ingesta from one location to the next
- To retain ingesta at a given site for digestion, absorption, or storage
- To break up food material physically & to mix it w/digestive secretions
- To circulate ingesta so that all portions come in contact w/absorptive surfaces
DOUBLE CHECK WHERE THIS IS ???
What type of meal moves through the GI tract quicker, a hypocaloric meal or a hypercaloric meal?
Hypocaloric meal - less to digest
What is Deglutition?
- The first motility pattern in the GI tract is the deglutition
- Deglutition involves voluntary & involuntary stages & occurs after food has been masticated
What occurs in the voluntary phase (oral phase) of deglutition?
- Food is in the oral cavity & is molded into a bolus
- Using the tongue it will be pushed back into the pharynx
What occurs in the involuntary phase (swallow reflex) of deglutition?
- It occurs within the pharynx & esophagus –> it directs food into the digestive system (away from the upper airways)
True or False. During deglutition, breathing stops momentarily.
True
Explain the step-by-step process of deglutition.
- The soft palate is elevated closing the pharyngeal opening of the nasopharynx preventing that food gets into the internal openings of the nostrils
- The tongue is pressed against the hard palate closing off the oral opening
- the epiglottis is moved backwards covering the entrance to the trachea preventing the movement of food into the respiratory system
- The upper esophageal sphincter opens & the food is transported through the esophagus by peristaltic contractions; the entrance to the trachea is reopened & respiration continues
How long is the transit time in dogs from the oral cavity to stomach?
4-5 seconds
What are some disorders of deglutition?
Dysphagia - difficulty in swallowing which may result from neuromuscular disorder or mechanical obstruction
What are the classification of Dysphagia?
2 distinct types + additional
- Oropharyngeal Dysphagia - Due to malfunction of the pharynx & upper esophageal sphincter
- Esophageal Dysphagia - Due to malfunction of the esophagus
- Aspiration - A dysphagia in which food particles/fluids or stomach contents (acid reflux) reach the upper airways
Why is aspiration harmful?
B/C the airways are not protected from the acidity of the GI system
What is the regulatory center for energy homeostasis?
Hypothalamus
What is within the hunger center?
Nucl. paraventricularis, lateral hypothalamus fields, perifornical region
What is within the satiety center?
Nucl. ventromedialis
What are the stimulatory neuropeptides (Hunger) from the hypothalamus?
Neuropeptide Y (NPY) & Orexin
What are inhibitory (Satiety) neuropeptides from the hypothalamus?
Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH)
* Inhibits hunger & increases energy consumption
* Think of Labradors
What are stimulatory (Hunger) non-hypothalamic hormones?
Ghrelin
What are inhibitory (Satiety) non-hypothalamic hormones?
Cholecystokinin (CCK), Peptide YY (PPY), Leptin (fat cells –> inhibits NPY release & activates MSH release & activity), Insulin (pancreas –> glucose availability)
What are the major salivary glands?
- Parotis (parotid gland)
- Mandibularis (madibular gland)
- Sublingualis (sublingual gland)
What are the small salivary glands?
- Ventral jaw glands
- Palate, pharyngeal glands
- Lips glands (labiales)
- Zygomatic glands
What are the types of secretions?
- Serous
- Mucous
- Seromucous (mixed)
Which salivary glands provide the largest amount of secretion?
Parotis & Mandibularis account for 90% of salivary secretion.
What are the primary functions of saliva (digestive functions)?
- Protection of the bucal mucosa & teeth
- Facilitation of deglutition
- Initiation of enzymatic carbohydrate digestion (human & pigs –> amylase, destroys cellulose)
- pH regulation (HCO3-, bicarbonate)
What are the secondary functions of saliva?
- Immunologic function (Lysozyme, Ig’s)
- Thermoregulation (panting in dogs)
- Defense mechanism in some species (llamas, alpacas - spit w/high accuracy)
True or False. Cattle produce 60-160 L of saliva per day.
True
According to the research article, what breed of dogs is more likely to have problems w/weight & appetite?
Labrador retrievers & related Flat coat retrievers
According to the research article, a mutation in what gene causes an association w/greater weight, adiposity, & food motivation?
What neuroactive peptides are disrupted?
- Gene = POMC
- The mutation is predicted to disrupt the production of the neuroactive peptides β-MSH and β-endorphin. These are implicated in energy homeostasis
True or False. The POMC mutation is more often found in service dogs than average companion animals.
True
* B/C a highly food-motivated dog is more easily trained w/treats using positive reinforcement
According to the article, what signaling pathway is crucial for the appropriate control of food intake w/genetic disruption of most components of the pathway resulting in severe obesity in both mouse & man?
Hypothalamic leptin melanocortin
What makes up saliva?
99% water & 1% electrolytes (Na+, K+, Cl-, HCO3-)
In the salivary gland, what is produced in the ducts?
Secondary saliva (K+ and HCO-)
In the salivary gland, what is produced in the acinus (glandular epithelium)?
Primary saliva (Cl-, Na+, H2O)
What can be caused by disturbances in saliva production?
- Xerostomia (dry mouth)
- Bucal ulcers
- Dysphagia
- Proliferation of bacterial population
- Cavities
How is saliva secretion regulated by the parasympathetic system?
Parasympathetic system (N. facialis und glossopharyngeus) acts on M3-receptors causing the contraction of myoepithelial cells to increase saliva secretion. This dilutes the saliva as it is being emptied faster.
How is saliva secretion regulated by the sympathetic system?
Sympathetic system (3 first thoracal segments) acts on α-1receptors (by Epi and NEpi) and causes secretion of small volumes of consistent (mucous) saliva
How is the innate (reflex) of saliva secretion stimulated?
Through contact w/bucal mucosa (mechanoreceptors)
How is the conditioned saliva secretion stimulated?
Through sight, smell, or immagination of food.
* i.e. Close eyes and imagine lemon
Explain Ivan Pavlov’s experiment w/the conditioned stimulus.
- Bell = Salivation
What are the four routes of secretion of the GI tract reach their target tissue?
- Endocrine
- Paracrine
- Autocrine
- Neurocrine