Gastrointestinal Physiology Flashcards
What are the components of the digestive system?
- Alimentary canal (GI tract)
- Accessory organs
The alimentary canal (GI tract) travels from ____ to ____
Mouth to anus
The luminal contents within the alimentary canal are considered:
Outside the body
How long is the alimentary canal?
30 feet in length
When are substances within the alimentary canal when are they considered inside the body?
After they have been absorbed across the epithelial layer that lines the GI tract
______ are in place to keep digested food contents moving in one direction
Sphincters
Sphincter located between the esophagus and stomach; failure leads to GERD
Lower esophageal sphincter
Failure of the lower esophageal sphincter leads to:
Acid reflux
Sphincter located between the stomach and small intestine:
Pyloric valve
Sphincter located between the small intestine and colon:
Ileocecal valve
Sphincter located at the end of the colon; made of smooth muscle & INVOLUNTARY:
Internal anal sphincter
Sphincter located at the end of the colon; made of VOLUNTARY muscle
External anal sphincter
Sphincter that controls the release of contents from the pancreas and liver into the small intestine
Sphincter of Oddi
List the six functions of the GI system:
- Digestion
- Secretion
- Absorption
- Motility
- Excretion
- Defense
Describe digestion:
Breakdown down of ingested macromolecules into their building blocks
What are the two types of digestion?
- Mechanical
- Chemical
Physically breaking down food into smaller pieces such as chewing:
Mechanical digestion
Motility patterns of the digestive tract, particularly the ones in the stomach are designed for:
Mechanical digestion
Breaking down food through the use of enzymes:
Chemical digestion
What components are involved in GI secretion?
- digestive enzymes
- acid/base
- bile
Involves the passive and active transport processes across an epithelial layer:
Absorption
The absorption seen in the GI system moves substances from:
Lumen of gut to blood
Looking at the starling forces governing capillary exchange outside of the small intestine, overall we have ______ along the entire of the capillary
Net absorption
The contractile patterns of the GI system:
Motility
The motility aspect of the digestive system involves what three components:
- Mixing
- Mechanical digestion
- Propulsion
Movement of material through the digestive tract:
Propulsion
Removal of metabolic waste from body:
Excretion
There is very little ____ in feces
true waste
any undigested products to be excreted from the body:
Metabolic waste
What gives the feces color?
Bile pigments
The defensive component of the GI tract involves:
Gut associated lymphoid tissue
What defensive organ monitors the entrance point of the digestive tract?
Tonsils
List the path of food travel through the GI tract:
- Mouth
- Esophagus
- Stomach
- Small intestine
- Colon
- Rectum
- Anus
As food enters into the body it is stored in the _____, which will slowly release it into the ____
Stomach, small intestine
Describe the processes occurring in the stomach:
Not much absorption, mainly secretion (acid secretion)
What is the purpose of secretion of acid in the stomach?
To sterilize the meal
Describe the size of contents as if goes through the digestive tract:
Starts large, gets smaller and smaller until it reaches the colon where compaction occurs to re-solidify the material
Describe the processes that occur early on in the small intestine:
Massive amounts of secretion & absorption
Describe the processes that occur later on in the small intestine:
Still see absorption & secretion but much less than seen early on in the small intestine
The substances being absorbed in the small intestine are being absorbed by the:
Hepatic portal vein
Because the hepatic portal vein is the location of where the absorbed substances from the small intestine go, describe what happens to these absorbed substances: T
Everything being absorbed from the small intestine will go to the liver before it gets dumped into general circulation
Under normal circumstance almost ALL of the meal is digested & absorbed by:
An exception to this is:
The first 25% of the small intestine
Exception= fats (take a bit longer)
Functions to compact the small fragments of material following digestion:
How does it do this?
Colon
Reabsorption of a lot of salt & water to concentrates the feces
List ingested substances that serve as nutrients: (7)
- Carbs
- Fats
- Proteins
- DNA/RNA
- Water
- Electrolytes
- Vitamins
Amount of water & solids ingested per day:
1200 mL water/day
500-800 g solid/day
Amount of salivary secretions per day:
Amount of gastric secretions per day:
1500 mL
2000 mL
Amount of bile secreted by the liver per day:
Amount of pancreatic secretions per day:
500 mL bile
1500 mL pancreatic secretions
Amount of absorption into the blood from the small intestine per day:
6700 mL/day
Amount of intestinal secretions (primarily into the small intestine) per day:
1500 mL
Amount of absorption into the blood from the large intestine per day:
1400 mL
Amount of water & solid excreted into the feces per day:
(on average)
100 mL water
50 g solid
Movement of contents too quickly through the digestive tract will result in:
Diarrhea
Movement of contents too slowly through the digestive tract will result in:
Constipation
What four layers comprise the GI tract wall?
- Mucosa
- Submucosa
- Muscularis externa
- Serosa
What layer of the GI tract wall is being described:
- Simple columnar epithelium
- Lamina propria
- Muscular mucosa for the movement of villi
Mucosa
What layer of the GI tract wall is being described:
- Connective tissue layer
- Blood vessels & lymph
- Submucosal plexus
Submucosa
What layer of the GI tract wall is being described:
- Circulare muscle
- Longitudinal muscle
- Myenteric plexus
Muscularis externa
What layer of the GI tract wall is being described:
- Connective tissue covering
- Support GI tract in abdominal covering
Serosa
Describes the epithelium that comprises the mucosa layer of the GI tract wall:
Simple columnar epithlium; heterogeneous
What does it mean that the epithelium comprising the mucosa layer is “heterogeneous”
Some of the cells of the epithelium actively absorb nutrients of the lumen, some of the cells actively secrete hormones into the blood and some of these cells may be stem cells that are dividing and replacing
What is the innermost layer of the GI tract wall?
Mucosa
Located in the mucosa layer of the GI tract wall, just beneath the epithelial layer
Lamina propria
Blood & nerve supply come up through which portion of the mucosa layer of the GI tract wall?
Lamina propria
Innermost layer of the mucosa layer of the GI tract wall, functions to move villi:
Muscularis mucosa
Major blood & lymph vessels of the GI tract travel through the:
Submucosa layer
Network of neurons located within the submucosa:
Submucosal plexus
The submucosal plexus is receiving input from another nervous system plexus that is deeper in the wall, called the ______, & the submucosal plexus will also send info to this plexus
Myenteric plexus
Describe the muscular makeup of the muscularis externa layer of the GI tract wall:
- Made of smooth muscle
Arranged into circular muscle & longitudinal muscle
Muscle fibers arranged concentrically around the lumen; functions to change lumen diameter
Circular muscle
Contraction of concentric muscle=
Relaxation of concentric muscle=
Constrict lumen
Dilate lumen
Muscle fibers arranged along the long axis of the GI tube; allows for coordinated contraction of different areas of the tube to occur together
Longitudinal muscle
What does longitudinal muscle allow for:
Coordinated contraction of different areas along the tube
In between the circular & longitudinal muscle layers is the:
Myenteric plexus
The myenteric plexus is a network of neurons in the ______ that receives input from the ______
Muscularis externa; autonomic NS
The myenteric plexus has projections into the:
Submucosal plexus, circular muscle & longitudinal muscle
Submucosal & myenteric plexus “little brain”
Enteric nervous system
The digestive tract is the only organ in the body that has its own:
Brain
What types of cells are located within the epithelial layer of the GI tract?
- Simple columnar (with microvilli)
- Goblet cells
- Enteroendocrine cells
- Stem cells
The simple columnar cells found within the epithelial layer have:
Microvilli
Unicellular exocrine gland that secretes mucous within the epithelial layer:
Goblet cells
Why is it important to have mucous secretion by goblet cells within the epithelial layer?
Mucous protects the GI lining from the acidic environment
Enteroendocrine cells within the epithelial layer are located at the:
Base of the villi
Found within the epithelial layer, function to secrete hormone into the blood:
Enteroendocrine cells
Stem cells within the epithelial layer are located:
Within crypts
What components allow for the tremendous surface area available for the absorption of materials from the lumen?
- Circular folds
- Villi
- Microvilli
Circular folds increase the surface area of the:
Intestinal lining
Vili are extensions off _____ and increase the surface area of the _____
Circular folds; circular folds
Another name for microvilli:
Brush border
Microvilli are located on the _____& increase the surface area of the ____
Apical membrane of the vili; apical membrane
Together, circular folds, villi, & microvilli increase the SA ____x over flat surface
600x
What two components are present inside the villus?
- Lacteals (lymph vessels)
- Capillary network
Substances absorbed across the epithelium will either enter _____ also known as ______ or will enter _____
lacteals also known as lymph vessels; capillary network
What moves the villus?
Muscularis mucosa
Venous drainage & lacteal movement can all be described as:
passive
Since venous drainage & lacteal movement are passive processes they require:
Skeletal muscle contractions & one-way valves
The process of muscularis mucosa contraction, causing the villus to move up and down & allowing for the absorbed digestates to move through the capillaries, through the veins, and then back to the general circulation:
Milking the villus
When looking at hormone levels within the GI system, changes in hormones are the response of changes in the ______ NOT the _____
Lumen; ECF
Control systems of the GI regulate systems in:
Lumen of tract
Control mechanisms are governed by ____ & ____ of luminal contents
Volume & luminal composition
When changes in the gut lumen initiate secretion of a hormone into the blood:
Endocrine secretion
When changes in the gut lime will cause paracrines to be secreted into the interstitial fluid & affect cells close by:
Paracrine secretion
Autonomic nerve function that will stimulate an endocrine gland to secrete a hormone into the blood:
Neurocrine secretion
When two cells actually have to make contact with eachother for secretion to occur:
Immune/Juxtacrine secretion
Name two examples of cells that displaying immune or juxtacrine secretion:
ECL cells & D cells
What do ECL cells secrete?
Histamine
What D-cells secrete?
Somatostatin
The gut innervation responsible for sensory:
Afferent neurons
The gut innervation responsible for secretomotor:
Efferent neurons
Reflex receptors that respond to stretch, inflammation, nutrients & endocrine factors:
Afferent sensory
Afferent sensory neurons respond to:
- Stretch
- Inflammation
- Nutrients
- Endocrine factors