Test 4: Digestive & Reproductive System FINAL Flashcards
Digestive System Functions
Digestive system—organ system that processes food, extracts nutrients, and eliminates residue
Five stages of digestion
- Ingestion: selective intake of food
- Digestion: mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into a form usable by the body
- Absorption: uptake of nutrient molecules into the epithelial cells of the digestive tract and then into the blood and lymph
- Compaction: absorbing water and consolidating the indigestible residue into feces
- Defecation: elimination of feces
Digestive Types
- Mechanical digestion—the physical breakdown of food into smaller particles
2.Chemical Digestion: a series of hydrolysis reactions that breaks dietary macromolecules into their monomers (residues)
Mechanical Digestion
the physical breakdown of food into smaller particles
- Cutting and grinding action of the teeth
- Churning action of stomach and small intestines
- Exposes more food surface to digestive enzymes
Chemical Digestion
a series of hydrolysis reactions that breaks dietary macromolecules into their monomers (residues)
•Carried out by digestive enzymes produced by salivary glands, stomach, pancreas, and small intestine
Polysaccharides into monosaccharides
Proteins into amino acids
Fats into monoglycerides and fatty acids
Nucleic acids into nucleotides
Some nutrients are present in a usable form in ingested food and can be directly absorbed
•Vitamins, amino acids, minerals, cholesterol, and water
Digestive System: Subdivisions
- digestive tract
- accessory organs
Digestive Tract
Aka the alimentary canal
- 30 ft long muscular tube extending from mouth to anus
- Mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine
- Gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the stomach and intestines
Accessory Organs
•Teeth, tongue, salivary glands, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas
Digestive Tract Structure & Layers
Most of digestive tract follows a basic structural plan with the digestive tract wall consisting of layers:
- Mucosa: epithelium, lamina propria, muscularis mucosae
- Submucosa
- Muscularis externa: inner circular layer, outer longitudinal layer
- Serosa: areolar tissue, mesothelium
Mucosa (Mucous Membrane) & Layers
lines the lumen and consists of:
1.Inner epithelium
- Simple columnar in most of digestive tract
- Stratified squamous from mouth through esophagus, and in lower anal canal
- Lamina propria: loose connective tissue layer
- Muscularis mucosa: thin layer of smooth muscle
- Tenses mucosa creating grooves and ridges that enhance surface area and contact with food
- Improves efficiency of digestion and nutrient absorption
4.Mucosa-associated lymphatic tissue (MALT): the mucosa exhibits an abundance of lymphocytes and lymphatic nodules
Submucosa: Structure
thicker layer of loose connective tissue
- Contains blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, a nerve plexus, and in some places mucus-secreting glands that dump lubricating mucus into the lumen
- MALT extends into the submucosa in some parts of the GI tract
Muscularis Externa: Structure & Layers
consists of usually two layers of muscle near the outer surface
1.Inner circular layer
•In some places, this layer thickens to form valves (sphincters) that regulate the passage of material through the tract
2.Outer longitudinal layer
•Responsible for the motility that propels food and residue through the tract
Enteric Nervous System: Structure & Function
nervous network in esophagus, stomach, and intestines that regulates digestive tract motility, secretion, and blood flow
- Thought to have over 100 million neurons
- Can function independently of central nervous system
- But CNS usually exerts influence on its action
- Often considered part of autonomic nervous system
Serosa: Structure
composed of a thin layer of areolar tissue topped by simple squamous mesothelium
- Begins in the lower 3 to 4 cm of the esophagus
- Ends just before the rectum
- Adventitia: fibrous connective tissue layer that binds and blends the pharynx, most of the esophagus, and the rectum into adjacent connective tissue of other organs
Enteric Nervous System: Two Networks of Neurons
1.Submucosal plexus: in submucosa
- Controls glandular secretions of mucosa
- Controls movements of muscularis mucosae
2.Myenteric plexus: parasympathetic ganglia and nerve fibers between the two layers of the muscularis externa
Controls peristalsis and other contractions of muscularis externa
Mesenteries: Structure & Function
connective tissue sheets that suspend stomach and intestines from abdominal wall
Functions
- Looseness allows stomach and intestines to undergo strenuous contractions with freedom of movement in the abdominal cavity
- Hold abdominal viscera in proper relationship to each other
- Prevent intestines from becoming twisted and tangled by changes in body position and by its own contractions
- Provide passage of blood vessels and nerves that supply digestive tract
- Contain many lymph nodes and lymphatic vessels
Parietal Peritoneum: Structure
a serous membrane that lines the wall of the abdominal cavity
- Turns inward along posterior midline
- Forms posterior mesentery: a translucent two-layered membrane extending to the digestive tract
- The two layers of the mesentery separate and pass around opposite sides of the organ forming the serosa
- Come together on the far side of the organ and continue as another sheet of tissue, called the anterior mesentery
- May hang freely in the abdominal cavity
May attach to the anterior abdominal wall or other organs
Lesser Omentum
a ventral mesentery that extends from the lesser curvature of the stomach to the liver
Greater Omentum
hangs from the greater curvature of the stomach (its left inferior margin)
- Covers small intestine like an apron
- The inferior margin turns back on itself and passes upward
- Forming a deep pouch between its deep and superficial layers
- Inner superior margin forms serous membranes around the spleen and transverse colon—mesocolon
- Part of the body’s first line of defense against toxins and infections
Intraperitoneal
when an organ is enclosed by mesentery on both sides
- Considered within the peritoneal cavity
- Stomach, liver, and parts of small and large intestine
Retroperitoneal
when an organ lies against the posterior body wall and is covered by peritoneum on its anterior side only
- Considered to be outside the peritoneal cavity
- Duodenum, pancreas, and parts of the large intestine
Regulation of the digestive tract
Motility and secretion of the digestive tract are controlled by:
- neural
- hormonal
- paracrine mechanisms
Digestive Tract Regulation: Neural Control
- Short (myenteric) reflexes: stretch or chemical stimulation acts through myenteric plexus
- Stimulates peristaltic contractions of swallowing
- Long (vagovagal) reflexes: parasympathetic stimulation of digestive motility and secretion
Digestive Tract Regulation: Hormones
- Chemical messengers secreted into bloodstream that stimulate distant parts of the digestive tract
- Gastrin and secretin
Digestive Tract Regulation: Paracrine Secretions
•Chemical messengers that diffuse through the tissue fluids to stimulate nearby target cells
The Mouth: Structure & Functions
The mouth is known as the oral, or buccal cavity
Functions:
- Ingestion (food intake)
- Taste and other sensory responses to food
- Chewing and chemical digestion
- Swallowing, speech, and respiration
Mouth enclosed by cheeks, lips, palate, and tongue
The Mouth: Oral Fissure
anterior opening between lips
The Mouth: Fauces
posterior opening to the throat
Mouth Tissue Type
Stratified squamous epithelium lines mouth
- Keratinized in areas subject to food abrasion: gums and hard palate
- Nonkeratinized in other areas: floor of mouth, soft palate, and insides of cheeks and lips
The Cheeks & Lips: Structure & Functions
Structure:
- Fleshiness due to subcutaneous fat, buccinator muscle of the cheek, and orbicularis oris of the lips
- Labial frenulum: median fold that attaches each lip to the gum between the anterior incisors
- Vestibule: space between cheeks or lips and the teeth
Function:
- Retain food and push it between the teeth
- Essential for speech
- Essential for sucking and blowing actions, including suckling by infants
The Tongue: Structure & Function
Lingual glands: serous and mucous glands amid the extrinsic muscles
•Secrete a portion of the saliva
Lingual tonsils: contained in the root
The Palate: Structure & Function
•separates oral cavity from nasal cavity; makes it possible to breath while chewing food
•Hard (bony) palate
•Hard (bony) palate—anterior portion that is supported by the palatine processes of the maxillae and the palatine bones
Soft Palate
•posterior to hard palate with more spongy texture
Structure/ Function:
- Composed of skeletal muscle and glandular tissue
- No bone
- Uvula: conical medial projection visible at the rear of the mouth
- Helps retain food in the mouth until one is ready to swallow
•Palatine rugae:
transverse ridges that help the tongue hold and manipulate food
Pairs Muscular Arches on each side of oral cavity
- Palatoglossal arch: anterior arch
- Palatopharyngeal arch: posterior arch
- Palatine tonsils are located on the wall between the arches
The Teeth: Structure & Function
Structure:
32 adult teeth
16 in mandible (lower jaw)
16 in maxilla (upper jaw)
From midline to the rear of each jaw
2 incisors—chisel-like cutting teeth used to bite off a piece of food
1 canine—pointed and act to puncture and shred food
2 premolars—broad surface for crushing, shredding, and grinding
3 molars—even broader surface for crushing, shredding, and grinding
Function:
Masticate (chew) food into smaller pieces
- Makes food easier to swallow
- Exposes more surface area for action of digestive enzymes, speeding chemical digestion
The Teeth: Alveolus
tooth socket in bone
•Gomphosis joint formed between tooth and bone
The Teeth: Periodontal Ligament
—modified periosteum whose collagen fibers penetrate into the bone on one side and into the tooth on the other
- Anchors tooth firmly in alveolus
- Allows slight movement under pressure of chewing
Gingiva (gum)
covers the alveolar bone
Regions of a tooth
- Crown: portion above the gum
- Root: the portion below the gum, embedded in alveolar bone
- Neck: the point where crown, root, and gum meet
- Gingival sulcus: space between the tooth and the gum
•Hygiene in the sulcus is important to dental health
The Teeth: Dentin
hard yellowish tissue that makes up most of the tooth
The Teeth: Enamel
covers crown and neck
•A noncellular secretion that cannot regenerate
The Teeth: Cement
—covers root
Cementum and dentin are living tissue and can regenerate
The Teeth: Root Canal
—space in a root leading to pulp cavity in the crown
- Nerves and blood vessels
- Apical foramen: pore at the basal end of each root canal
The Teeth: Occlusion
meeting of the teeth with the mouth closed
The Teeth Development
20 deciduous teeth (milk teeth or baby teeth)
Teeth develop beneath gums and erupt in a predictable order
- Erupt from 6 to 30 months
- Beginning with incisors
- Between 6 and 25 years of age, are replaced by 32 permanent teeth
Third molars (wisdom teeth) erupt from age 17 to 25 years
•May be impacted: crowded against neighboring teeth and bone so they cannot erupt
Teeth & Gum Disease
The human mouth is home to more than 700 species of microorganisms, especially bacteria
1.Plaque—sticky residue on the teeth made up of bacteria and sugars
- Calculus: calcified plaque
- Bacteria metabolize sugars and release acids that dissolve the minerals of enamel and dentin to form dental caries (cavities)
- Root canal therapy is necessary if cavity reaches pulp
- Calculus in the gingival sulcus wedges the tooth and gum apart
- Allows bacterial invasion of the sulcus
- Gingivitis: inflammation of the gums
- Periodontal disease: destruction of the supporting bone around the teeth which may result in tooth loss
Saliva & the Salivary Glands: Function
Saliva
- Moistens mouth
- Begins starch and fat digestion
- Cleanses teeth
- Inhibits bacterial growth
- Dissolves molecules so they can stimulate the taste buds
- Moistens food and binds it together into bolus to aid in swallowing
Saliva Structure
Saliva is a hypotonic solution of 97.0% to 99.5% water and the following solutes:
- Salivary amylase: enzyme that begins starch digestion in the mouth
- Lingual lipase: enzyme that is activated by stomach acid and digests fat after food is swallowed
- Mucus: binds and lubricates a mass of food and aids in swallowing
- Lysozyme: enzyme that kills bacteria
- Immunoglobulin A (IgA): an antibody that inhibits bacterial growth
- Electrolytes: Na^+, K^+, Cl^-, phosphate, and bicarbonate
•pH: 6.8 to 7.0
Saliva: Mucus
•binds and lubricates a mass of food and aids in swallowing
Saliva: Salivary Amylase
•enzyme that begins starch digestion in the mouth
Saliva: Lingual Lipase
enzyme that is activated by stomach acid and digests fat after food is swallowed
Saliva: Lysozyme
enzyme that kills bacteria
Saliva: Immunoglobulin A
•an antibody that inhibits bacterial growth
Saliva Electrolytes
Na^+, K^+, Cl^-, phosphate, and bicarbonate
Saliva pH
6.8 to 7.0
Salivary Glands Structure
Compound tubuloacinar glands
•Branched ducts ending in acini
Mucous cells secrete mucus
Serous cells secrete thin fluid rich in enzymes and electrolytes
Mixed acinus has both mucous and serous cells
The Pharynx: Structure/ Function
muscular funnel connecting oral cavity to esophagus and nasal cavity to larynx
- Digestive and respiratory tracts intersect
- Has deep layer of longitudinal skeletal muscle
- Has superficial layer of circular skeletal muscles that form pharyngeal constrictors (superior, middle, and inferior) that force food downward during swallowing
- When not swallowing, the inferior constrictor (upper esophageal sphincter) remains contracted to exclude air from the esophagus
- Disappears at the time of death when the muscles relax, so it is a physiological sphincter, not an anatomical structure
The Esophogus: Structure & Function
Esophagus—straight muscular tube 25–30 cm long
- Begins at level between C6 and the cricoid cartilage
- Extends from pharynx to cardial orifice of stomach passing through esophageal hiatus in diaphragm
- Lower esophageal sphincter: food pauses here because of constriction
- Prevents stomach contents from regurgitating into the esophagus
- Protects esophageal mucosa from erosive stomach acid
- Heartburn—burning sensation produced by acid reflux into the esophagus
The Esophogus: Tissue
Nonkeratinized stratified squamous epithelium
Esophageal glands in submucosa secrete mucus
Deeply folded into longitudinal ridges when empty
Skeletal muscle in upper one-third, mix of muscle types in middle one-third, and only smooth muscle in bottom one-third
Meets stomach at level of T7
Covered with adventitia
The Stomach: Structure & Function
Stomach—a muscular sac in upper left abdominal cavity immediately inferior to the diaphragm
- Primarily functions as a food storage organ
- volume of about 50 mL when empty
- 1.0 to 1.5 L after a typical meal
- Up to 4 L when extremely full—can extend nearly as far as the pelvis
The Stomach: General Mechanics
Mechanically breaks up food, liquefies it, and begins chemical digestion of protein and fat
•Chyme: soupy or pasty mixture of semidigested food in the stomach
Most digestion occurs after the chyme passes on to the small intestine
Chyme
•soupy or pasty mixture of semidigested food in the stomach
Stomach Anatomy: 4 Regions
J-shaped; relatively vertical in tall people, horizontal in short people
•Divided into four regions:
- Cardial part (cardia)—small area within about 3 cm of the cardial orifice
- Fundus—dome-shaped portion superior to esophageal attachment
- Body—makes up the greatest part of stomach
- Pyloric part—narrower pouch at the inferior end
- Subdivided into the funnel-like antrum
- Narrower pyloric canal that terminates at pylorus
- Pylorus—narrow passage to duodenum
- Pyloric sphincter—regulates the passage of chyme into the duodenum
Stomach Anatomy: Microscopic
Stomach has a simple columnar epithelium covered by mucous
- Apical regions of its surface cells are filled with mucin
- Mucin swells with water and becomes mucus after it is secreted
Mucosa and submucosa are flat when stomach is full but form longitudinal wrinkles called gastric rugae when empty
Muscularis externa has three layers (instead of the two seen elsewhere)
•Outer longitudinal, middle circular, and inner oblique layers
Stomach: Gastric Pits
Gastric pits—depressions in gastric mucosa
- Lined with simple columnar epithelium
- Two or three tubular glands open into the bottom of each gastric pit
- Cardiac glands in cardial part
- Pyloric glands in pyloric parts
Gastric glands in the rest of the stomach
Stomach: Mucus Cells
secrete mucus
- Predominate in cardiac and pyloric glands
- In gastric glands, called mucous neck cells since they are concentrated at the neck of the gland
Stomach: Regenerative (Stem Cells)
found in base of pit and in neck of gland
•Divide rapidly and produce continual supply of new cells to replace cells that die
Stomach: Parietal Cells
found mostly in the upper half of the gland
•Secrete hydrochloric acid (HCl), intrinsic factor, and a hunger hormone called ghrelin
Hydrochloric Acid
HCl activates pepsin and lingual lipase
Breaks up connective tissues and plant cell walls
•Helps liquefy food to form chyme
Converts ingested ferric ions (Fe^(3+) ) to ferrous ions (Fe^(2+) )
•Fe^(2+) absorbed and used for hemoglobin synthesis
Contributes to nonspecific disease resistance by destroying most ingested pathogens
Most ulcers are caused by acid-resistant bacteria Helicobacter pylori, which can be treated with antibiotics and Pepto-Bismol
Somtach: Chief Cells
most numerous
- Secrete gastric lipase and pepsinogen
- Dominate lower half of gastric glands
- Absent from pyloric and cardiac glands
Enteroendocrine Cells
concentrated in lower end of gland
•Secrete hormones and paracrine messengers that regulate digestion
Pepsin
Zymogens—digestive enzymes secreted as inactive proteins
•Converted to active enzymes by removing some of their amino acids
Pepsinogen—zymogen secreted by chief cells
- Hydrochloric acid removes some of its amino acids and forms pepsin that digests proteins
- Autocatalytic effect—as some pepsin is formed, it converts more pepsinogen into more pepsin
Pepsin digests dietary proteins into shorter peptides
Protein digestion is completed in the small intestine
Gastric Lipase
produced by chief cells
Gastric lipase and lingual lipase play a minor role in digesting dietary fats
- Digests 10% to 15% of dietary fats in the stomach
- Rest digested in the small intestine
Intrinsic Factor
a glycoprotein secreted by parietal cells
Essential to absorption of vitamin B_12 by the small intestine
•Binds vitamin B_12 and then intestinal cells absorb this complex by receptor-mediated endocytosis
Vitamin B_12 is needed to synthesize hemoglobin
•Deficiency causes anemia
Secretion of intrinsic factor is the only indispensable function of the stomach
•Digestion can continue if stomach is removed (gastrectomy), but B_12 supplements will be needed
Chemical Messengers
Gastric and pyloric glands have a variety of cells that produce a variety of chemical messengers
- Most are hormones that enter blood and stimulate distant cells
- Some are paracrine secretions that stimulate neighboring cells
- Several are peptides produced in both the digestive tract and the central nervous system: gut–brain peptides
- Substance P, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), secretin, gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), cholecystokinin, and neuropeptide Y (NPY)
Gastric Motility: Process
Swallowing center of medulla oblongata signals stomach to relax
Vagus nerve relays message from medulla and activates a receptive-relaxation response in stomach
•Resists stretching briefly, but relaxes to hold more food
Soon stomach shows a rhythm of peristaltic contractions controlled by enteric pacemaker cells in longitudinal layer of muscularis externa
- A ring of constriction every 20 seconds
- Becomes stronger contraction at pyloric part
Thick muscularis of antrum acts as a strong pump that breaks up semidigested food and prepares it for intestine
Antral contractions come in waves that churn and break up the chyme into small particles
Only about 3 mL of chyme is squirted into the duodenum at a time; this small amount allows duodenum to:
- Neutralize the stomach acid
- Digest nutrients little by little
If duodenum is overfilled, it inhibits gastric motility
Typical meal emptied from stomach in 4 hours
•Less time if the meal is more liquid
As long as 6 hours for a high-fat meal
- After 30 minutes or so these contractions become quite strong
- They churn the food, mix it with gastric juice, and promote its physical breakup and chemical digestion
Gastric Motility
Vomiting
forceful ejection of stomach and intestinal contents (chyme) from the mouth
Vomiting & Emetic Center
Emetic center in the medulla oblongata integrates multiple muscle actions
Vomiting induced by
- Overstretching of the stomach or duodenum
- Chemical irritants such as alcohol and bacterial toxins
- Visceral trauma
- Intense pain or psychological and sensory stimuli
Chronic Vomiting
- Results in dangerous fluid, electrolyte, and acid–base imbalances
- Bulimia: eating disorder; hydrochloric acid in vomit causes tooth enamel to erode
Digestion & Absorbtion
Stomach does not absorb any significant amount of nutrients
•Does absorb aspirin and some lipid-soluble drugs
Alcohol is absorbed mainly by small intestine
•Intoxicating effects depend partly on how rapidly the stomach is emptied
Regulation of Gastric Function: Steps
- Cephalic Phase: Vagus nerve stimulates gastric selection even before food is swallowed
- Gastric Phase: Food stretches the stomach and activate myentric and vagovagal reflexes. These reflexes stimulate gastric secretion. Histamine and gastrin also stimualate acid and enzyme secretion.
- Intestinal Phase: Intestinal gastrin briefly stimulates the stomach but then secretin, CCK, and the enterogastric reflex inhibit gastric secretion and motility where the duodenum processes the chume already in it. Symphathetic nerve fibers supress gastric activity, while vagal (parasymphatetic) stimulation of the stomach is now inhibited.
Regulation of Gastric Function: Cephalic Phase
- Stomach responds to sight, smell, taste, or thought of food
- Sensory and mental inputs converge on hypothalamus
- Hypothalamus relays signals to medulla oblongata
- Vagus nerve fibers from medulla stimulate the enteric nervous system of stomach, stimulating gastric secretion
- 40% of stomach’s acid secretion occurs in cephalic phase
Regulation of Gastric Function: Gastric Phase
- Period in which swallowed food and semidigested protein activate gastric activity
- Two-thirds of gastric secretion and one-half of acid secretion occur in this phase
- Ingested food stimulates gastric activity in two ways
- By stretching the stomach
- Activates short reflex mediated through myenteric plexus; activates long reflex mediated through the vagus nerves and the brainstem
By increasing the pH of its contents
Gastric secretion is stimulated by three chemicals
- Acetylcholine (ACh)—secreted by parasympathetic nerve fibers of both reflexes
- Histamine—a paracrine secretion from enteroendocrine cells in the gastric glands
- Gastrin—a hormone produced by the enteroendocrine G cells in pyloric glands
Regulation of Gastric Function: Intestinal Phase
- Duodenum responds to arriving chyme and moderates gastric activity through hormones and nervous reflexes
- Duodenum initially enhances gastric secretion but soon inhibits it
- Stretching of duodenum accentuates vagovagal reflex that stimulates stomach
- Peptides and amino acids in chyme stimulate G cells of duodenum to secrete more gastrin, further stimulating stomach
- Soon acids and fats trigger enterogastric reflex—duodenum sends inhibitory signals to stomach by way of enteric nervous system
- Duodenum also signals medulla to inhibit vagal nuclei (reducing vagal stimulation of stomach) and stimulate sympathetic neurons (sending inhibitory signals to the stomach)
- Chyme also stimulates duodenal enteroendocrine cells to release secretin and cholecystokinin
- They stimulate the pancreas and gallbladder
- Also suppress gastric secretion
- Gastrin secretion declines and pyloric sphincter contracts tightly to limit chyme entering duodenum
- Gives duodenum time to work on chyme
- Enteroendocrine cells also secrete glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) originally called gastrin-inhibiting peptide
- Stimulates insulin secretion in preparation for processing nutrients about to be absorbed by small intestine
The liver, gallbladder, and pancreas
Small intestine receives chyme from stomach and secretions from liver and pancreas
- These secretions enter digestive tract near the junction of stomach and small intestine
- These secretions are important to the digestive process of the small intestine