PSIO202 Exam 3 - Digestive Organs Flashcards
What are the 4 stages of food processing, and how are they connected (pathways between)?
ingestion - eating
digestion - breakdown
absorption - uptake of nutrients
elimination - passage of undigested materials out of the body as feces
ingestion —> digestion or elimination
digestion —> absorption or elimination
absorption —> elimination
What is the alimentary canal?
the continuous tube that stretches from mouth to anus
What are the parts of the digestive tract, and what do they each do (basics)?
mouth - mechanical and chemical breakdown, deglutition
pharynx/esophagus - swallowing and avoiding airway
stomach - mechanical and chemical breakdown, some absorption
small intestine - chemical and mechanical breakdown, absorption of macro and micro nutrients, vitamins, and 90% of the water
large intestine - absorption of electrolytes, 10% water, and a little of the vitamins
rectm/anus - defecation
Do the plexus in the GI tract need nervous input to function?
No
Where are the submucosal plexus and the myenteric plexus?
submucosal: under the mucosa, above the submucosa
myenteric: between the muscle layers, so above the longitudinal muscle and below the circular muscle
In the glands which lie in the submucosa, the epithelial cells are continuous with the…
mucosa
What branch of the nervous system can control the plexus of the GI tract?
enteric, which branches off the the PNS
What type of cells make up the epithelium of the mucosa and what are its functions?
stratified squamous in the mouth, esophagus, and anus
simple columnar in the rest of the GI tract
secrete enzymes, absorb nutrients, secrete mucous, secrete hormones
What type of cells make up the lamina propria of the mucosa and what are its functions?
thin layers of loose connective tissue
contains blood vessels and lymphatic tissue
What type of cells make up the muscularis mucosae of the mucosa and what are its functions?
thin layer of smooth muscle that forms folds in the mucosal layer
drives local movements to increase absorption by exposing ingested material to absorptive surfaces
What type of cells make up the submucosa and what are it’s functions?
loose connective (contains blood vessels, glands, and lymphatic tissue) and the submucosal plexus (which receives SNS and PNS input but does not need it to regular blood vessel diameter, secretion from glands and neurosecretory neurons, and local motility aka contraction of the muscularis mucosae
What type of cells make up the muscularis external layer of the GI tract? What do these different areas with different cells do?
mouth, pharynx, upper esophagus and anus - skeletal muscle under voluntary control for deglutition and defecation
inner circular fibers and outer longitudinal fibers - smooth muscle under involuntary control for motility of mixing and propulsion
myenteric plexus - nervous, receives PNS and SNS input to regulate motility of the circular and longitudinal muscle
What determines if the muscles of the GI tract do mixing or propulsion?
their rhythm and syncronicity
What is the difference between the serosa and the adventitia?
serosa - stomach and intestines, serious membrane that is the visceral peritoneum which secretes serous fluid and is made of areolar connective tissue/simple squamous epithelium
adventitia - esophagus, areolar connective tissue without any epithelium
Regarding layers of the GI tract, the visceral peritoneum is the same as the ———- in the stomach and intestines.
epithelial cell layer of the serosa
How does the mouth mechanically digest food?
breaks it into pieces, and mixes it with saliva to form a moist bolus
How does the mouth chemically digest food? What are the two things used, and what do they each do?
enzymatic digestion
salivary amylase (starch digestions in the mouth, stops at the stomach because pH is too low for it) and lingual lipase (triglyceride breakdown into fatty acids and glycerol, starts working more int he stomach because that is the appropriate pH)
What is the “map” of teeth in the mouth?
4 quadrants, each 2123 from medial to lateral
What composes saliva?
water, mucus, bicarbonate, enzymes, haptocorrin, lactoferrin, and lysozymes
What are the functions of saliva/the things in saliva?
moisten and lubricate food (water and mucus)
dissolve food (water, mucus, enzymes)
bicarbonate buffers acidic foods
protect mouth from infection (lysozymes and lactoferrin are antimicrobial)
haptocorrin protects vitamin B12
What structures empty saliva into the oral cavity?
salivary glands
How do the SNS and PNS play a role in saliva production?
PNS (sight, smell, sound, memory, and tongue stimulation) will increase saliva excretion, SNS (fear and anxiety) decrease salivation
What type of salivary glands produce the most saliva?
extrinsic (parotid, sublingual, and submandibular)
Describe the ducts that come from the 3 different extrinsic salivary glands
parotid duct - one on each side near the second molar
submandibular duct- one on each side
lesser sublingual ducts- many under the tongue
What are the three stages of swallowing? Are they voluntary or involuntary? Where is food transferred in each stage of swallowing?
oral stage - voluntary, oral cavity to oropharynx
pharyngeal stage - involuntary, pharynx to esophagus
esophageal stage - involuntary, esophagus to stomach
What triggers the pharyngeal stage of swallowing?
What are the effects?
sensory nerves in the pharynx signal the deglutition center in the brainstem
breathing stops, soft palate/uvula rise to cover the nasopharynx, vocal cords adduct, larynx rises, epiglottis covers the larynx
What occurs during the esophageal stage of swallowing?
upper esophageal sphincter (skeletal muscle) relaxes
peristalsis pushes the food down (circular fibers contract behind the bolus to push the food forward, and longitudinal fibers contract in front of the bolus to shorten the distance traveled)
lower esophageal sphincter (smooth muscle) relaxes as food approaches
What is the travel time during the esophageal stage of swallowing for solids and liquids?
solids: 4-8 seconds
liquids: 1 second
What happens if the lower sphincter fails to open during swallowing?
esophagus distends and feels like chest pain or a heart attach
What happens if the lower esophageal sphincter fails to close after swallowing? What can exacerbate the symptoms?
stomach acids can enter the esophagus and cause heartburn (GERD)
weak sphincter
laying down after a large meal
smoking and alcohol use
The stomach is made up of ——- muscle which modulates lumenal ——- and ———-.
smooth muscle
pressure and tension
Smooth muscle is present in 3 ways:
sheets, bundles, and sheaths
Smooth muscle is primarily controlled by the ——- nervous system and two neurotransmitters:
autonomic
ACh and NE
What is the normal resting membrane potential for smooth muscle?
-50 to -60 mV
Smooth muscle cells are put into two categories based on excitation. What are the two categories? What does this mean? What are these types also called, and how are they stimulated?
single/unitary - 1 nerve for a bundle of cells, also called myogenic, auto-excitatory and have spontaneous electrical activity
multi-unit - 1 nerve for each cell (so multiple for a unit), also called neurogenic, stimulated by nerves
Where are unitary SM cells located?
digestive tract, gall bladder, urinary bladder
Describe how unitary SM cells function (how they are stimulated, how the cells respond, etc.)
do not have to contact a motor neuron
auto-rhythmic, adjacent cells have gap junctions that transmit action potentials
cell membrane adhere and help transmit force
produce a slow, synchronized contraction where the entire sheet of muscle contracts in a “functional syncytium”
Smooth muscle has ——– that release neurotransmitters into —— junctions which affect the general area of a SM fiber.
varicosities
diffuse junctions
Compared to skeletal muscle, the sarcoplasmic reticulum of smooth muscle is ——– ———–.
poorly developed
Describe the filament structure of smooth muscle?
thick filaments have actin gripping heads
thick and thin filaments are diagonal, which results in a twisting motion upon contraction