GI Physiology - Full summary Flashcards
What are the 5 main regions of the stomach?
Cardia
Fundus
Body
Antrum
Pylorus
What is the main function of the stomach?
It mixes food with gastric secretions in order to produce semi-liquid chyme
What are the 2 forms of mechanical activity in the stomach?
Orad stomach - Tonic, maintained contraction
Caudad stomach - Phasic intermittent contraction
What regions make up the orad stomach?
Fundus
Proximal body
What occurs in the orad stomach?
During swallowing, the vagus nerve is stomaulted as the hypothalamus detects food moving towards the stomach
This causes the release of acetylcholine and nitric oxide, which allows for relaxation of the oral stomach and opening of the lower oesophageal sphincter
A prolonger, weak, tonic contraction then occurs in order to propel the food towards the caudad region
What causes the normal rhythmic contractions of the caudad stomach?
Ca2+ slowly leaks into the smooth muscle, causing depolarisation
This does not reach threshold, however, and K+ then leaves the smooth muscle, therefore re-polarising the cell
What causes the larger, intermittent contractions of the caudad stomach?
Acetylcholine released by the vagus nerve causes a greater depolarisation, which reaches threshold and thus allows a larger contraction to occur, which allows for the grinding and peristaltic action of the stomach
What happens to food that does not pass into the duodenum?
It undergoes retropulsion, which it is forced back into the stomach and is further churned
What factors affect the strength of antral waves and the opening of the pyloric sphincter?
Gastric factors
Duodenal factors
What are the gastric factors that affect the strength of antral waves and the opening of the pyloric sphincter?
The volume of chyme
The consistency of chyme
Distension
How does distension affect astral waves and opening of the pyloric sphincter?
Distension increases motility, as the stretch of the smooth muscle stimulates the intrinsic nerve plexuses, which increases vagus nerve activity and gastrin release
How can duodenal factors delay emptying of the stomach?
The duodenum must be ready to receive chyme
The duodenum can delay emptying via neurohormonal responses or hormonal responses
How can neurohormonal responses affect emptying of the stomach?
The enterogastric reflex of the duodenum decreases antral activity va signals from the intrinsic nerve plexuses and autonomic nervous system, driven by stimuli within the duodenum
How can hormonal responses affect emptying of the stomach
The release of enterogastrones such as Cholecystokinin (CCK) from the duodenum inhibits stomach contraction
What are some stimuli in the duodenum that trigger the neurohormonal and hormonal responses to prevent stomach emptying?
Fat - More time needed to absorb
Acid - More time required for neutralisation
Hypertonicity
Distension - Need to clear duodenum first
What is hypertonicity and how does it occur?
Hypertonicity is the presence of a large water potential gradient in the intestine
This arises as the simple sugars and amino acids can draw in water from the intestines, which decreases blood plasma volume and can cause hypotension (Dumping syndrome)
What are the 2 glandular regions of the stomach known as?
Oxyntic gland area
Pyloric gland area
What is found at the entrance to all gastric pits?
Mucosal cells which secrete mucus and bicarbonate, which protect the stomach from hydrochloric acid by buffering
What are the 3 main cell types of the oxyntic glands?
Chief cells
Enterochromaffin-like cells
Parietal cells
What is secreted by chief cells?
Pepsinogen
What is pepsinogen?
This is an inactive precursor to pepsin, which breaks down peptides activates more pepsinogen (autocatalytic)
What is secreted by enterochromaffin-like cells?
Histamine
What is the main function of histamine in the stomach?
It acts as a paracrine messenger and stimulates the release of HCl from parietal cells
What are the 3 substances that are secreted by parietal cells?
Hydrochloric acid
Intrinsic factor
Gastroferrin
What is the function of hydrochloric acid?
Hydrochloric acid activates pepsinogen to form pepsin, denatures proteins for digestion and kills most micro-organisms
What is the function of intrinsic factor?
This binds to vitamin B12 and facilitates its absorption
What is the function of gastroferrin?
This binds to Fe2+ and facilitates its absorption
What are the 2 phases in which parietal cells can be in?
Active
Resting
What are the characteristics of parietal cells when resting?
Their proton pumps are bound to tubulovesicles in the cytoplasm
What are the characteristics of parietal cells when active?
Stimulatory chemicals (Gastrin, Histamine) stimulates protein kinases, which move vesicles, and thus proton pumps, to the membrane
What are the 2 main cell types in the pyloric gland area?
G cells
D cells
What is released by G cells, directly into the blood?
Gastrin
What is the function of gastrin?
Gastrin stimulates the secretion of HCl and increases gut motility
What is released by D cells, directly into the blood?
Somatostatin
What is the function of somatostatin?
Somatostatin inhibits HCl secretion
How do parietal cells produce hydrochloric acid?
Cl- moves from the blood via the chlorine bicarbonate exchanger
Chlorine is pumped into the lumen via the chlorine-potassium symporter
H+ and bicarbonate are formed from H2O + CO2
H+ is pumped out as potassium is pumped back in via the H+/K+ ATPase (Proton pump)
Cl- and H+ combine in the lumen to form hydrochloric acid
What stimulates the release of histamine from enterochromaffin-like cells?
Acetylcholine
How does histamine increase HCl levels
Histamine binds to H2 receptors on parietal cells
This activates adenylyl cylase
This then increases levels of cAMP, which increases the number of proton pumps and thus increases secretion of HCl
How does acetylcholine alone stimulate HCl production?
Acetylcholine binds to M3 ACh receptors
This causes activation of phospholipase C, which increases intracellular Ca2+ levels
This stimulates the production of more proton pumps, which increases secretion of HCl
How does gastrin increase HCl production?
Gastrin binds to cholecystokinin 2 (CCK2) receptors
This activates phospholipase C
This increases intracellular Ca2+ levels
This stimulates production of more proton pumps, which increases secretion of HCl
How does somatostatin decrease HCl production?
This binds to SST2R receptors on parietal cells and enterochromaffin-like cells
This prevents the release of histamine and inhibits adenylyl cyclase
This decreases cAMP levels and thus down regulates proton pump production
What affect do prostaglandins have on HCl production?
They decreases HCl production
What are the 3 phases of gastric secretion?
Cephalic phase - Before food in stomach
Gastric phase - Food in stomach
Intestinal phase - Food in small intestine
What occurs in the cephalic phase of gastric secretion
The hypothalamus stimulates the vagus nerve in response to food
Vagal stimulation stimulates enteric neurones
This causes the release of acetylcholine, which stimulates the release of gastrin and histamine, which all increase HCL levels
It also inhibits somatostatin production
What occurs in the gastric phase of gastric secretion?
There is a still a vagal tone, however, distension further activates acid secretion, which food buffers decrease somatostatin release from D cells and amino acids further stimulate G cells to produce gastrin
What are the 3 phases of inhibition of gastric secretion?
Cephalic phase
Gastric phase
Intestinal phae
What occurs in the cephalic phase of secretion inhibition?
Vagal tone is decreased due to cessation of eating and stomach emptying
This decreases HCl production via histamine, gastrin and acetylcholine
What are some factors that can decrease vagal tone to the stomach and thus decrease secretion?
Cessation of eating
Stomach emptying
Pain
Nausea
Negative emotions
What occurs during the gastric phase of inhibition of gastric secretion?
The antral pH falls as food exits the stomach due to increased buffering of gastric HCl
This stimulates the release of somatostatin and thus further decreases HCl production
The gastric mucosa also releases prostaglandin E2 which acts locally to recuse histamine levels
What occurs during the intestinal phase of inhibition of gastric secretion?
Enterogastrones and neuronal reflexes which reduce gastric motility begin to reduce gastric secretions
What is digestion?
The enzymatic conversion of complex dietary substances into a form that can be absorbed
What are the 3 main locations of digestion?
Lumen (Luminal)
Brush border (Membrane)
Cytoplasm (Cytoplasmic)
What are the 2 membranes of digestion in enterocytes known as?
Apical membrane (Lumen)
Basal membrane (Blood)
What are the 3 main types of carbohydrates?
Monosaccharides
Oligosaccharides
Polysaccharides
What are some examples of monosaccharides?
Glucose
Fructose
What are some examples of oligosaccharides?
Sucrose
Lactose
What are some examples of polysaccharides?
Amylose
Amylopectin
Glycogen
What monomers form sucrose?
Glucose + Fructose
What monomers form lactose?
Glucose + Galactose
Where in the GI tract are carbohydrates first digested?
Oral cavity - Salivary amylase
Duodenum - Pancreatic amylase
What is the function of salivary and pancreatic amylase?
They break down polysaccharides into oligosaccharides (e.g. Starch into maltase)
How are oligosaccharides digested?
Oligosaccharides are broken down into monosaccharides by enzymes on the brush border
What are some examples of oligosaccharases?
Lactase
Maltase
Sucrase
Isomaltase
What is the function of lactase?
It hydrolyses lactose into glucose and galactose
What is the function of maltase?
Maltase hydrolyses 1,4 glycosidic bonds in straight chains
What is the function of sucrase?
It hydrolyses sucrose into glucose and fructose
What is the function of isomaltase?
It is the only enzyme that hydrolyses branching 1,6 glycosidic bonds
What is the function of alpha-amylase?
This is an end-enzyme which breaks down linear alpha-1,4 glycosidic bonds
Where in the GI tract does absorption of monosaccharides occur?
Duodenum and jejunum
How are glucose and galactose absorbed into the blood?
They are moved into the enterocytes via SGLT1 secondary active transporters, with Na+
They then move out of the cell via facilitated diffusion through GLUT2 channels
The Na+ gradient is maintained by the Na+/K+ ATPase which pumps Na+ back out, into the blood
How is fructose absorbed into the blood?
It is transported into the cell by the GLUT5 channel and then moves out via the GLUT2 channel
Where are proteins first broken down?
In the stomach
What effect does HCl have on proteins?
HCl denatures proteins in the stomach
What effect does pepsin have on proteins?
Pepsin cleaves proteins into peptides in the stomach
What is the optimum pH for pepsin?
1.8 - 3.5 and it becomes denatured in the alkaline conditions of the duodenum
What are the different ways in which proteins can be broken down and absorbed?
Proteins in the stomach can either be broken down into peptides or amino acids
Amino acids can be directly absorbed
Peptides can either be hydrolysed by membrane enzymes into amino acids before being absorbed, or they can be absorbed first and then hydrolysed by cytoplasmic enzymes
What is the calculation for BMI?
BMI = Weight (Kg) ÷ Height^2 (m)
What is the BMI range for being overweight?
25 - 29