Overview of Gastrointestinal Function Flashcards
What do metabolic processes need?
A specific range of small molecule
What does food have?
A wide range of mostly large molecules
What is the problem with food?
The large molecules are locked into complex structures
It may be contaminated with pathogens
What does digestion do to food?
Makes it into a sterile, neutral, and isotonic solution of small sugars, amino acids and small peptides, small particles of lipids, and other small molecules
What can happen once food has been digested?
It is now ready for absorption and excretion
Give the processes that occur in the GI tract, from eating food to excreting it
- Initial physical disruption
- Ingestion and transport to storage
- Initial chemic disruption and creation of suspension (Chyme)
- Disinfection
- Controlled release of Chyme
- Diluration and neutralisation
- Completion of chemical breakdown
- Absorption of nutrients and electrolytes
- Final absorption of water and electrolytes
- Producing faeces for controlled excretion
What are the regions of the GI tract?
- Mouth and Oesophagus
- Stomach
- Duodenum
- Small intestine
- Large intestine
- Rectum
What are the functions of the mouth and oesophagus?
- Mastication
- Saliva
- Swallowing
What is the purpose of saliva?
- Protects mouth
- Lubricates food for mastication and swallowing
- Starts digestion
How does saliva protect the mouth?
- Wets
- Bacteriostatic
- Alkaline
- High Ca2+
How does saliva lubricate food?
- Wet
- Mucus
What does the saliva digest?
Sugars
What is the function of the mouth and oesophagus in swallowing?
- Formation of bolus
- Rapid oesophageal transport
What is the function of the stomach?
- Storage
- Initial disruption
- Delivers Chyme slowly into duodenum
How does the stomach acheive it’s storage function?
It relaxes to accommodate food
How does the stomach acheive initial disruption?
- Contracts rhythmically to mix and disrupt
- Secretes acid and proteolytic enzymes to break down tissues and disinfect
What happens once stomach has performed initial disruption of food?
The food is now called Chyme
What is the function of the duodenum?
Dilation and neutralisation of Chyme
How does the duodenum dilate and neutralise Chyme?
- Water drawn in from ECF. The stomach is impermeable, the duodenum is permeable
- Alkali (bile) added from liver and pancreas
- Enzymes added from pancreas and intestine
What is the function of the small intestine?
- Absorption of nutrients and electrolytes
- Absorbs the majority of water
How does the small intestine absorb nutrients and electrolytes?
- Fluid passes very slowly through the small intestine
- Large surface area
- Epithelial cells absorb molecules
- Pass into hepatic portal circulation
How do epithelial cells absorb molecules?
Some actively, some passive
Often coupled to Na+ transport
How much water does the small intestine absorbed?
Compare to large intestine
1.5L
Compared to 0.15L in large intestine
What is the function of the large intestine?
- Final absorption of water
- Faeces form and accumulate
How fast is transit in the large intestine?
Very slow
Where does faeces form and accumulate in the large intestine?
In the descending and sigmoid colon
What happens to faeces after formation and accumulation in the large intestines?
It is propelled periodically into the rectum
What happens once the faeces has been propelled into the rectum?
You get the urge to defecate, and there is controlled relaxation of sphincters and expulsion of faeces
Label this diagram of the alimentary canal
- A - Salivary glands
- ai - Parotid
- aii - Submandibular
- aiii - Sublingual
- B - Oral cavity
- C- Pharynx
- D - Tounge
- E - Oesophagus
- F - Pancreas
- G - Stomach
- H - Pancreatic duct
- I - Ileum (small intestine)
- J - Anus
- K - Rectum
- L - Appendix
- N - Cecum
- N - Colon
- ni- Transverse colon
- nii- Ascending colon
- niii- Descending colon
- O - Common bile duct
- P - Duodenum
- Q- Gallbladder
- R - Liver
What does the alimentary canal consist of?
From the oval cavity to the anus
Four layers
What are the 4 layers of the alimentary canal?
- Mucosa
- Submucosa
- Muscularis Externa
- Serosa/Adventita
What does the alimentary mucosa consist of?
- Surface epithelia
- Lamina propria
- Muscle layer
What does the alimentary submucosa consist of?
Fibroelastic tissue with vessels, nerves, leucocytes, and fat cells
What does the alimentary Muscularis Externa consist of?
Inner circular and outer longitudinal layer of smooth muscle, with the myenteric plexus lying between the layers
What does the alimentary serosa/adventitia consist of?
A thin outer covering of connective tissue
What does the variation in cellular composition of alimentary layers do?
Provides adaptations for specific functions, whilst remaining a continuous hollow tube of variable diameter and shape
How much food do we ingest per day?
About 1kg
How much liquid do we ingest per day?
About a litre
What is food mixed with?
1.5L of saliva and about 2.5L of gastric secretions