Lecture 11: GI Physiology, Small Bowel and Colon Flashcards
How long is the small bowel?
21 feet
What are the key characteristics of the small bowel?
- gradient of peristaltic contraction rates
- pacemaker cells throughout (intestinal cells of cajal) that have rate of 9/12 contracts per minute
End result = mixing of luminal contents, enanced contact time with epithelium, 3-5 hours transit time
What regulates the small bowel?
- Distention for mechanoreceptors (activates intrinsic reflex arc)
- particularly in duodenum
- Extrinsic nerves
- parasympathetic stimulates and sympathetic depresses
- Gastrin
- activates segmentation in ileum with meal
- gastroileal reflex
What is the migrating motor complex?
- occurs during the fasted state
- initiated by rise in motilin from ileum
- sequential, organized short peristaltic waves
- abrupt termination with meal (gastrin)
- starts in stomach and progresses caudally
Where is the vomiting center?
In the medulla (lateral reticular formation near respiratory center)
Input = irritant receptors in gut
Output = vagal, phrenic, spinal, sympa and parasympathetic nerves
What is MoA of vomiting?
Saliva intestine contract pylorus contract abdomen and diaphragm contract LES and esophagus dilate glottis closes
What are the duodenal luminal contents?
- Ingestion
- saliva
- gastric secretion
- Bile
- Pancreatic secretion
7-8 L/day of outside stuff - Small bowel secretion = 1.5 L/day
So total small bowel volume = 9-10 L/day
What does small bowel secrete?
Water and mucus to lubricate and protect cells
H2O for enzymatic hydrolysis of nutrients
Driven by Cl- in epithelial crypt cells via the CFTR
Regulated by cAMP
Why does cystic fibrosis affect GI?
Because water secretion in small intestine depends on CFTR
What amplifies the absorptive surface of the small intestine?
- folds
- villi
- microvilli (on top of villi)
600x
What are the key characteristics of absorption in small bowel?
Not regulated
Small intestine is designed to absorb ALL nutrients presented to it
Does not concentrate shit
What are the distribution of apical channels in small bowel?
Sodium channel on the villus (where the absorption takes place)
CFTR in the crypts where the secretion takes place
What can be found in the crypts (of Lieberkuhn)?
Cl- channels
Stem cells
How are carbs digested?
- pancreatic amylase secretion
- majority absorbed in jejunum
- degrade complex carbs to disaccharides like maltose, sucrose and lactose
- final step = brush border dissacharidases that breakdown disaccharides and COTRANSPORTS the monosaccharides along with Na
Where is glucose absorbed?
All in the small intestine
Where is lactose absorped?
Differences in lactase ability among individuals so meal lactose absorption is variable between individuals
How are proteins digested?
- initiated in stomach (HCl-pepsin)
- Pancreatic proenzymes activated in the lumen
- enterokinases catalyzes trypsinogen trypsin
- trypsin activates other proteases - proteins degraded to AAs
- enterokinases catalyzes trypsinogen trypsin
- Brush border aminopeptidases
- Cotransport of AAs with Na
- Contransport of di/tripeptides with H
Why is the presence of sodium contransport channels on the villi significant?
ecause carbs and protein are cotransported with Na so this is where absorption takes palce
What is the significance of enterokinase? Trypsin?
Enterokinase makes trypsin (by converting trypsinogen to trypsin)
Trypsin activates proteases, and is a protease itself
How are fats digested?
Insoluble in water so has to be in 3 phases
i. water in lumen ii. lipid in cell membrane iii. water in lymphatics and blood stream 1. fat emulsion 2. apical cell membrane transfers products via micelle 3. cell reconstitutes into bigger lipid molecules 4. basolateral cell membrane exports this to blood stream