PBL Topic 4 Case 1 Flashcards
Identify four roles of the GI tract
- Movement of food through the tract
- Digestion, aided by secretion of digestive juices
- Absorption of water, electrolytes and digestive products
- Circulation of blood through to carry away the absorbed subsances
Identify the five layers of the intestinal wall from the outer surface inward
- Serosa
- Outer longitudinal muscle layer
- Inner circular smooth muscle layer
- Submucosa
- Mucosa
Outline the dimensions and arrangmeent of a smooth muscle fibre in the GI tract
- 200 to 500 micrometres in length
- 2 to 10 micrometres in diameter
- Fibres are arranged as bundles in parallel fibres
What is the role of gap junction between muscle fibres in each bundle?
- Allow low-resistance movement of ions from one muscle cell to the next.
Why is the smooth muscle of the GI tract described as a syncytium?
- Muscle fibre bundles fuse at various points
- Action potential travels in many directions as a result
What are slow waves?
- Undulating changes in the resting potential of about 5 to 15 millivolts
What is the role of interstitial cells of Cajal and how are they arranged?
- Electrical pacemakers of smooth muscle cells
- Which interact with smooth muscle cells to excite the appearance of spike potentials
- Form a network with each other and have synaptic-like connections with smooth muscle cells
What are the frequencies of slow waves in the stomach, duodenum and ilium?
- Stomach: 3 per minute
- Duodenum: 12 per minute
- Ilium: 9 per minute
What is the resting membrane potential of GI smooth muscle cells?
- -55 mV
When does a spike potential occur? (with reference to changes in membrane potentials)
- When the resting membrane potential becomes more positive than -40 mV
Identify two ways in which the spike potential in a GI smooth muscle cell differs to that in a nerve fibre
- Influx of calcium as well as sodium through calcium-sodium channels
- Longer duration due to slow closure of calcium sodium channels
What is the frequency of spike potentials?
- 1 to 10 per second
How long does each spike potential last?
- 10 to 20 milliseconds
Outline the process of smooth muscle contraction
- Calcium binds to calmodulin
- This complex activates myosin kinase
- Myosin kinase phosphorylates regulatory chain on myosin head causing it to bend with actin
Why are slow waves not involved in smooth muscle contraction?
- They do not cause calcium ions to enter the smooth muscle fibre
What is meant by tonic contraction?
- Continuous contraction not associated with basic electrical rhythm
Identify three causes of tonic contraction
- Continuous repetitive spike potentials
- Hormones that cause depolarisation of smooth muscle
- Continuous entry of calcium ions into the cell
What is meant by unitary smooth muscle? Identify three places in which it is found
- Thousands of muscle fibres contract as a single unit
- GI tract, ureters, uterus, bile duct, blood vessels
What is the embryological origin of the enteric nervous system?
- Neural crest cells
How many neurones is the enteric nervous system composed of?
- 100 million (same as spinal cord)
Where is the myenteric plexus located and what does it control?
- Between outer circular and inner longitudinal smooth muscle
- Controls GI movements
Where is the submucosal plexus located and what does it control?
- Submucosa
- Controls GI secretion and blood flow
Identify three effects of stimulation of the myenteric plexus
- Increased tonic contraction
- Increased intensity of rhythmical contraction
- Increased rate of rhythmical contraction
Describe the inhibitory functions of the myenteric plexus and its regulation
- Inhibit of intestinal sphincter muscles
- Regulated by vasoactive intestinal polypeptide
Identify three effects of stimulation of the submucosal plexus
- Intestinal secretion
- Local absorption
- Local contraction of submucosa
What are the main excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters secreted by enteric neurons?
- Excitatory: ACh
- Inhibitory: Noradrenaline, adrenaline
From which cranial nerves does the parasympathetic nervous system arise?
- Vagus
- Glossopharyngeal
- Facial
- Oculomotor
From which spinal nerves does the parasympathetic nervous system arise?
- S2
- S3
- Occasionally S1 and S4
The majority of parasympathetic nerve fibres travel through which nerve?
- Vagus nerve
Identify eight organs supplied by the vagus nerve
- Oesophagus
- Stomach
- Small intestine
- Proximal colon
- Liver
- Gallbladder
- Kidneys
- Upper portion of ureters
Identify four organs supplied by the sacral parasympathetic fibres
- Descending colon
- Rectum
- Bladder
- Lower portion of ureters
Which neurons in the parasympathetic nervous system are cholinergic? Where are the ganglia located?
- Both preganglionic and postganglionic
- Distally close to effector organ
How does glandular secretion in different parts of the GI differ in terms of innervation?
- Glands in the upper GI tract are mainly controlled by parasympathetic fibres
- Glands in the lower GI tract are controlled by local factors and enteric nervous system
Identify three ways that parasympathetic stimulation increases GI motility
- Promoting peristalsis
- Relaxing of sphincters
- Increased glandular secretion
From which spinal cord segments does the sympathetic innervation of the GI tract arise?
- T5
- L1
- L2
How are the preganglionic neurons and ganglia of the sympathetic nervous system arranged?
- Preganglionic neurons enter sympathetic chain
- To pass through ganglia which are located proximally, distant from the effector organ
Identify two sympathetic ganglia located in the GI tract
- Celiac ganglion
- Mesenteric ganglia
Which neurons in the sympathetic nervous system are cholinergic and which are adrenergic?
- Preganglionic: Cholinergic
- Postganglionic: Adrenergic
Outline the effect of sympathetic stimulation on GI motility and identify two mechanisms that cause this effect
- Reduces GI motility (inhibition of peristalsis and increases tone of sphincters)
- Effect of noradrenaline on intestinal tract smooth muscle
- Inhibitory effect of noradrenaline on neurons of the enteric nervous system
Identify three types of GI reflexes
- Reflexes integrated within gut wall
- Reflexes from gut to sympathetic ganglia and back to gut
- Reflexes from gut to spinal cord or brainstem and back to gut
What is the gastrocolic reflex?
- Signals from stomach to cause evacuation of colon
What is enterogastric reflex?
- Signals from colon and small intestine to inhibit stomach motility and secretion
What is colonoileal reflex?
- Signals from colon to inhibit emptying of ileal contents into colon
Which cells secrete gastrin?
- G-cells of antrum of stomach
When is gastrin released?
- Distension of stomach
- Products of proteins
- Gastrin releasing peptide
(Following ingestion of a meal)
What are the primary effects of gastrin?
- Stimulation of gastric acid secretion
- Stimulation of growth of the gastric mucosa
Which cells secreted cholecystokinin?
- I cells of mucosa of duodenum and jejunum
When is cholecystokinin released?
- In response to digestive products of fat, fatty acids and monoglycerides
- Which are present in the intestinal contents
Identify 3 effects of cholecystokinin
- Contracts gallbladder which expels bile
- Relaxation of sphincter of Oddi which allows bile to mix with and emulsify fatty substances
- Inhibition of muscle contraction in stomach, producing time for fat digestion
Which cells secrete secretin?
- S cells in mucosa of duodenum
When is secretin released?
- In response to gastric acid juice emptying into duodenum from pylorus of stomach
What are the primary effects of secretin?
- Promotes pancreatic secretion which neutralises the acid in small intestine
Where is gastric inhibitory peptide secreted from?
- Mucosa of upper small intestine
When is gastric inhibitory peptide released?
- In response to amino acids in the duodenum
What are the primary effects of gastric inhibitory peptide?
- Decreasing motor activity of stomach
- Slowing emptying of gastric contents into duodenum when small intestine is overloaded
Where is motilin secreted from?
- Upper duodenum
What are the primary effects of motilin?
- Increases GI motility
- By stimulating waves of motility called inter digestive myoelectric complexes every 90 minutes
Where is glucose dependent insulinotropic peptide released? When is it released and what are its primary effects?
- Small intestine
- In response to glucose
- Stimulates insulin secretion
What is peristalsis?
- Wave-like propulsive movements in GI tract
Identify three stimuli of peristalsis
- Parasympathetic signals
- Distension of gut wall
- Chemical or physical irritation
What is the effect of atropine on peristalsis?
- Reduced peristalsis
- Paralysis of cholinergic nerve terminals
- Of myenteric plexus
Why does peristalsis die out in the orad direction?
- Myenteric plexus is polarised in the anal direction
How far can each contractile ring push intestinal contents?
- 5 - 10 cm
What is receptive relaxation?
- Gut relaxes downstream towards anus
- Allowing food to be propelled more easily in this direction
What is meant by Starling’s law of the gut?
- Refers to myenteric reflex / peristaltic reflex
- And movement in the anal direction
Identify two causes of mixing movements in the GI tract
- Peristalsis against a closed sphincter
- Local intermittent constrictive contractions
What does hunger determine?
- The amount of food that a person ingests
What does appetite determine?
- The type of food to ingest
What is meant by satiety?
- Desire to limit food intake
- After ingesting a satisfying amount of food
Stimulation of which nuclei results in hyperphagia?
- Lateral hypothalamic feeding centre
Stimulation of which nuclei results in aphagia?
- Ventromedial hypothalamic satiety centre
What is the role of serotonin in appetite regulation?
- Inhibits the lateral hypothalamic feeding centre
- Which alters the appetite set point (baseline for caloric and nutrient intake)
How do levels of serotonin differ in anorexics and bulimics differ?
- Raised in anorexia
- Reduced in bulimia
Identify four signals that the hypothalamus receives from elsewhere in the body that influence feeding behaviour
- Sensory information about stomach filling
- Chemical signals from nutrients in blood
- Hormones released by adipose tissue
- Signals from cerebral cortex (sight, smell, taste)
What are orexinergic and anorexigenic substances in relation to feeding?
- Orexigenic stimulates feeding
- Anorexigenic inhibits feeding
Identify two anorexigenic neurons of the arcuate nuclei
- POMC neurons (Pro-opiomelanocortin)
- CART neurons (cocaine- and amphetamine-related transcript)
Identify two orexigenic substances
- Neuropeptide Y (NPY) acting on Y1 and Y2 receptors
- Agouti-related protein (AGRP)
What do POMC neurons release and to which receptors does this chemical bind?
- Alpha-Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (a-MSH)
- Binds to MCR-3 and MCR-4 in paraventricular nuclei
What are the biochemical and physiological effects of AGRP neurons?
- Competitive inhibitor of a-MSH
- As it binds to MCR-3 and MCR-4
- Resulting in excessive feeding and obesity
What is the effect of cholecystokinin on feeding?
- Activation of melanocortin pathway in hypothalamus
- Causes release of a-MSH from POMC and CART neurons acting on MCR-3 and MCR-4 receptors of paraventricular nuclei
- Resulting in reduced feeding
Identify a hormone that stimulates AGRP neurons
- Ghrelin
Identify 3 hormones that inhibit AGRP neurons / excite POMC/CART neurons
- Insulin
- Leptin
- CCK
Identify four glands that secrete saliva
- Parotid glands
- Submandibular glands
- Sublingual glands
- Small buccal glands
How many mL of saliva is produced each day?
- Between 800 and 1500 mL
Identify two major types of saliva secretion and what each type contains
- Serous secretion containing ptyalin, an alpha amylase, for starch digestion
- Mucus secretion containing mucin, a glycoprotein, for lubrication and protection
How does secretion type vary between the salivary glands?
- Parotid: mainly serous
- Sublingual and submandibular: both types
- Buccal glands: mainly mucus
What is the pH of saliva?
- Between 6.0 and 7.0
Which ions are most prominent in saliva?
- Potassium
- Bicarbonate
What occurs in the primary stage of salivary secretion?
- Acini secrete ptyalin and/or mucin
- Reabsorption of sodium from salivary ducts
- Secretion of potassium ions in exchange for sodium
Why is chloride absorbed passively from the salivary ducts?
- Excess sodium reabsorption over potassium secretion
- Creating an electrical negativity of -70 mV in the ducts
What occurs in the secondary stage of salivary secretion?
- Bicarbonate ions are secreted by ductal epithelium
- This is caused by passive exchange of bicarbonate ions for chloride ions
What are the concentrations of sodium, chloride, potassium and bicarbonate in saliva?
- Sodium: 15 mEq/L
- Chloride: 15 mEq/L
- Potassium: 30 mEq/L
- Bicarbonate: 60 mEq/L