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Equine > Nutrition: Anatomy and Digestion > Flashcards

Nutrition: Anatomy and Digestion Flashcards

1
Q

What kind of digestion does the horse perform?

A
  • A non-ruminant herbivore with significant fermentation in the hind gut
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2
Q

What does the horse rely on to break down fibrous materials in their diet?

A
  • rely on microbial populations present in their GIT to break down fibrous portion of their diet
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3
Q

Why is the digestive system of the horse smaller at birth?

A

due to underdevelopment of large intestine

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4
Q

Why might coprophagy be useful? What is it?

A

Coprophagy = eating poop

- possibly useful for bacterial colonization of GIT

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5
Q

Starting from the stomach and ending at the rectum, what are the major features/structures of the horses digestive tract?

A
  • small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, ileum)
  • Cecum
  • Large intestine/Hind gut (Cecum and Large Colon) (sternal flexure, pelvic flexure)…
  • Colon (Ascending and descending)
  • Rectum
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6
Q

What are the characteristics of the horses stomach?

A

Relatively small and rarely empty

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7
Q

How much can a mature horses stomach hold?

A

500kg

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8
Q

Can a horse vomit?

A

Very limited ability to do so

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9
Q

How long does it take food to pass through the horse?

A

23-48 hours

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10
Q

Where does food spend most of it’s time during transit through a horse?

A

the hind gut

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11
Q

How long does food stay in the stomach?

A

30mins - 1.5 hours

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12
Q

What happens to carbohydrates, proteins and fats in the stomach?

A

they mix with digestive enzymes and are partially digested when reach SI

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13
Q

What bacteria are able to survive in the stomach?

A

anaerobic bacteria

- Lactobacillus, streptococcus

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14
Q

What do the bacteria in the stomach do?

A

help digest readily degradable carbohydrates, primarily associated with grain-based food

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15
Q

What causes the pH to fall as food approaches the pylorus?

A

the HCl secretion

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16
Q

What function does the lower pH serve in the stomach?

A

allows the proteolytic activity of pepsin and reduces that of fermentation

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17
Q

What are the three parts of the small intestine?

A

duodenum, jejunum, and ileum

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18
Q

Which part of the SI is not freely mobile?

A

duodenum

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19
Q

What is digested in the SI?

A

location of major digestion of proteins, fats and non-structural carbohydrates

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20
Q

What are the parts of the large intestine or hind gut?

A

Cecum and Colon

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21
Q

What do microbes ferment in the Cecum?

A

fiber

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22
Q

What are the major microbes in the Cecum?

A

cellulolytic, proteolytic, lactate-using and glycolytic bacteria

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23
Q

What is the most comon bacteria in the cecum?

A

Ruminococcus Flavefaciens

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24
Q

What is the microbial content of the cecum like compared to that of the colon?

A

has more cellulolytic bacteria and less starch-utilizing bacteria than the colon –> primary location for fiber digestion

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25
Q

What are increased retention times associated with?

A

increased digestability

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26
Q

What is digestability aided by?

A

increased passage times through the sacculations, larged volume and the pelvic flexure

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27
Q

What do complex contractions and anatomy result in?

A

the physical separation of courser particles from finer ones and fluid retention

28
Q

What is the pelvic flexure responsiable for?

A

a selective retention of coarse particles in the cecum and ventral colon. = coarse particles are retained and liquid and fine particles move on to the LDC and right dorsal colon

29
Q

What are the names of the three flexures in the GIT?

A
  • Pelvic flexure
  • Diaphragmatic flexure
  • sternal flexure
30
Q

What are the two selective areas of retention?

A
  1. Pelvic flexure

2. Colonic separation mechanism of the GIT

31
Q

What happens at the colonic separation mechanism of the GIT?

A

fluid is retained int he right dorsal colon - contractions in the muscular wall of the colon results in fecal ball production and absorption of fluid

32
Q

What non-structural carbohydrates can be absorbed across the wall of the GIT?

A
  • monosaccharides like glucose
  • simple sugars
  • starch
  • fructans
33
Q

Can a horse digest all carbohydrates?

A

no

34
Q

How are non-structural carbohydrates digested?

A

hydrolysed in the SI by pancreatic alpha-amylase and brush boarder membrane disaccharides to monosaccharides

35
Q

What are structural carbohydrates?

A

fibrous portion of plants such as hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin and pectin

36
Q

What are structural carbohydrates made up of?

A

monosaccharide units joined by Beta bonds which horses cannot break

37
Q

How do structural carbohydrates get broken down?

A

microbes in the hing gut produce enzymes that break down this fiber into usable components

38
Q

What are the byproducts of microbial digestion of fiber?

A

short chain volatile fatty acids (VFAs)

39
Q

What can the byproducts of microbial digestion of fiber be used for?

A

an energy source for the horse

40
Q

What does microbial protein contribute to?

A

minimally to horse nutrition

41
Q

50% of daily energy requirements come from what?

A

volatile fatty acids

42
Q

What are some volatile fatty acids?

A

acetic, propionic, and butyric acids

43
Q

What is the recommended amount of starch to feed horses?

A

4g starch per kg body weight per meal

44
Q

What happens if the digestive capacity of the Si is reached?

A

large portion of undigested material enter the colon -> gets fermented by streptococcus -> increase in lactic acid production -> decrease in pH -> disruption of microflora -> decrease in activity of fiber-digesting microbes and decrease in fiber digestion

45
Q

What are some health consequences associated with excess starch?

A
  • lactic acidosis associated with laminitis
  • colic
  • diarrhea
  • stereotypies such as crib-biting and locomotory
46
Q

What is fiber critical for in a horses diet?

A

providing nutrients and maintaining gut health and reducing other health problems

47
Q

Where are proteins digested ?

A

in the small intestine and some protein (associated with cell walls) will reach the hind gut and serve as a protein source for microbes

48
Q

How is protein used by microbes?

A

degraded as amino acids, peptides and ammonia and re synthesized into microbial protein according to the available energy

49
Q

What does the liver do? (3)

A
  1. metabolizes carbohydrates, proteins and fats
  2. Breaks down and excretes potentially toxic compounds
  3. Large storage capacity
50
Q

What is the anatomy of the liver?

A
  • located in the most cranial part of the abdomen behind the diaphragm
  • divided into lobes
  • no gall bladder, continuous flow of bile
51
Q

How does bile enter the duodenum?

A

at the papilla along with pancreatic enzymes

52
Q

How do most products of digestion pass through the liver?

A

the hepatic portal vein

53
Q

How does the liver maintain blood glucose levels?

A

in response to the pancreatic hormones insulin and glucagon

54
Q

What is glycogenesis?

A

where the liver converts excess glucose into glycogen for storage

55
Q

What is glycolysis?

A

glucose that is not stored is used to produce energy

56
Q

How does the liver restore glucose levels when they fall in between meals?

A
  1. glycogenolysis: converts glycogen back into glucose

2. gluconeogenesis: non-sugars such as amino-acids are converted to glucose

57
Q

What does bile do?

A
  • emulsifies fats into smaller globules which can then be broken down further by lipase enzymes
58
Q

What is lipogenesis and when does it occur?

A

fats are converted for storage in subcutaneous tissue and other storage depots
- occurs when there is an excess of fat/energy

59
Q

What is lipolysis and when does it occur?

A

occurs in adipose cells where stored fat is converted back into glycerol and fatty acids. these are brought to the liver for use as an alternative energy supply.
- Occurs when energy is low

60
Q

Where are proteins transported?

A

to the liver

61
Q

What happens to excess proteins?

A
  1. amino acids converted into fat and stored in fat depots
  2. made into glucose for energy by gluconeogenesis
    - deanimation required to cleave amino acid groups -> ammonia -> urea -> excreted in urine or used by microbes
62
Q

What stores vitamins and minerals?

A

the hepatocytes

63
Q

What vitamins and minerals are stored by hepatocytes?

A

vitamins A, B12, D, E, K and minerals like iron and copper

64
Q

Where can glycogen be stored?

A

in the liver and in muscles

65
Q

What can make up bile?

A

metabolic wastes and rug products may form part of the bile which can then be excreted from the body through the digestive tract in the feces.

66
Q

What is bilirubin?

A

the toxic end product of haemoglobin breakdown which is removed via bile

Equine (9 decks)

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