Digestive system

Chapter 1

Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, students should be able to: Describe essential nutrients Describe the mechanism of feeding Describe intracellular vs extracellular digestion Describe structures of alimentary-canal related organs State and explain the four stages of digestion in human mechanical vs chemical digestion including hormonal control Differentiate the variation in vertebrate digestive system

An adequate diet
Nutrients needed for Energy in the form of ATP Raw materials for biosynthesis (Growth, self maintenance, reproduction) Provide essential nutrients (Required by the body, however the body cannot synthesize it on its own)

Essential nutrients
1. 2. 3. 4. Essential amino acids Essential fatty acids Vitamins Minerals

Essential amino acids

Animals require 20 amino acids; half can be synthesized Humans need eight Proteins in animal products are complete, plant proteins are incomplete. Combination are needed

Essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals

Unsaturated fatty acids (One or more double bonds) are essential Vitamins are organic molecules needed by the body in small amounts Vitamins are classified into water and fatsoluble Minerals are inorganic molecules required in small amounts

Dietary deficiencies
Undernourishment a diet that supplies less energy that the body needs Can occur within well-fed populations Malnourishment Long term absence of one or more essential nutrients May lead to deformities, diseases and even death

Main feeding mechanisms

Suspension Feeder
Sieve small food particles from water Whales, Clams and oysters

Main feeding mechanisms

Substrate feeder
Animals that live in / on their food source Eat their way through the food Leaf-miner caterpillar

Main feeding mechanisms

Fluid feeders
Suck nutrient-rich fluid from a living host. Mosquito, aphids

Main feeding mechanisms

Bulk Feeders
Eat relatively large pieces of food (swallow altogether) Spend a long time to digest their food e.g. two weeks

Intracellular vs extracellular digestion

Intracellular digestion - Happens in cells that possess food vacuole In lower organisms e.g. protist, sponges Extracellular digetion Breakdown of food in specific compartments The compartments can be saclike or tubelike In higher animals e.g. hydra, annelids, arthropods, amphibians, reptiles, mammals

Variations of alimentarycanal related organs

A crop is a pouch like organ in which food is usually softened, moistened and stored temporarily. Gizzards are more muscular than crops where they can actively churn and grind the food (Physical fragmentation). Gizzard often contains teeth or grit to assist in grinding.

Variations of alimentarycanal related organs

Mechanical and chemical digestion happens in the stomach. Birds have a stomach in between their crop and gizzard.

Human digestive system

i. Alimentary canal mouth, pharynx,

esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine

ii. Accessory digestive organs teeth, tongue, salivary glands, gallbladder,

liver, and pancreas

Human digestive system

Human digestive system

The GI tract is a disassembly line
Nutrients become more available to the body in each step

There are FOUR essential activities:

Ingestion Digestion (mechanical & chemical) Absorption Defecation

Human digestive system

Ingestion
Process of taking food into the digestive tract Chewing also mix up food with saliva that help in the digestion process Mechanical digestion chewing, mixing, and churning (agitating) food

Mechanical digestion
Salivary gland Produce and secrete saliva that:
Cleanses the mouth Moistens and dissolves food chemicals Aids in bolus formation Contains enzymes that break down starch

Three pairs of extrinsic glands parotid, submandibular, and sublingual

Mechanical digestion

Mechanical digestion
Carnivorous animals have pointed teeth that lack flat grinding surfaces which are adapted for cutting and shearing. Herbivores have large flat teeth for pulverizing the cellulose cell before digesting it.

Mechanical digestion
Human teeth suit their omnivorous lifestyle. They are simply carnivorous at their mouth front by having cuspids and incisors. Behind the cuspids are two premolars and three molars used for grinding and crushing food.

Mechanical digestion
The palate, the bone-reinforced section of the mouth provides a hard surface for the tongue to press the food in order to mix with the saliva. As for the tongue, besides equipped with taste buds to help us taste the food, the tongue helps shaped it into a bolus.

Mechanical digestion
During swallowing, The tongue pushes the bolus to the back of the oral cavity and into the pharynx. The larynx moves upward causing the epiglottis to close the tracheal opening.

Mechanical digestion
At the same time, esophageal sphincter relaxes and allows the bolus to enter the esophagus. After swallowing, the larynx moves downward to its original position and the tracheal passage reopens

Mechanical digestion
The esophagus is a muscular tube that conveys boluses from the pharynx to the stomach. From esophagus to the anal canal the walls of the GI tract have the same four tunics
From the lumen outward they are the mucosa, submucosa, muscularis externa, and serosa

Mechanical digestion

Mechanical digestion
The innermost layer called mucosa consist of epithelium. The next major tissue layer is made of a connective tissue layer called the submucosa. Nerve tissues are located here. Just outside the layer of submucosa is the muscle layer (muscularis externa). The inner layer has a circular orientation whereas the outer layer is arranged longitudinally. Outermost layer called the serosa covers the external surface of the tract.

Mechanical digestion
In the esophagus, peristalsis happens A wavelike contraction that squeezes a bolus downwards to the stomach The movement of food is controlled by a sphincter.

Mechanical digestion
Both layers of muscularis externa contract involuntarily, meaning that whenever one muscle layer contract the other one relax. This causes the peristalsis process to happen and brings the bolus to the stomach.

Stomach
The stomach is convoluted, enabling it to fold up when empty and open out like an expanding balloon whenever it is full of food.

Stomach
Stomach has 3 important functions i. To store ingested foods ii. The secretion helps dissolve and break down food particles especially protein iii. Help control the passage of food into the small intestines Chyme leaves the stomach through the pyloric sphincter to enter the small intestine.

Small intestine
The small intestine is about 6 m long where the first 25 cm is the duodenum; the remainder is divided into jejunum and ileum. The duodenum receives acidic chyme from the stomach, digestive enzymes and bicarbonate from the pancreas and bile from the liver and gallbladder.

Small intestine

Small intestine
The epithelial wall of the small intestine is covered with tiny, fingerlike projection called villi. The epithelial cells lining the villi have many cytoplasmic extensions called the microvilli. This greatly increases the surface area of the small intestine that helps in the absorption process.

Small intestine

Large Intestine
The large intestine (colon) is much shorter than the small intestine but it possesses a larger diameter. No digestion takes place within the large intestine and only about 4% of fluid absorption happens here. Certain bacteria produced vitamins for human usage Undigested material is compacted and stored.

Large Intestine
Bacterial fermentation happens at the colon and produces gases. Compacted feces will be driven by peristalsis from the large intestine into a short tube called rectum. Two sphincters control passage to the anus; i) composed of smooth muscles that open involuntarily in response to pressure inside the rectum. ii) composed of striated muscle that can be voluntarily controlled by the brain.

Large Intestine

Chemical digestion - mouth

The salivary amylase enzyme begins hydrolyzing starch in the food. Salivary amylase will turn starch to oligosaccharide and disaccharide (maltose)

Chemical digestion Stomach

The stomach secretes gastric juice made of mucus, enzymes and strong acid (pH 2). Three types of cells in the stomach; i) Mucus cells - Mucus functions in lubricating and protecting the cell lining in the stomach from the acidity of the gastric juice. Besides, cell division happens every 3 days to replace damaged cells.

Chemical digestion - Stomach

ii) Chief cells secrete pepsinogen iii) Parietal cells secrete strong acid (HCl) All these cells are situated at the gastric glands

Chemical digestion - Stomach

The enzyme pepsinogen is an inactive form of the digestive enzyme pepsin. Acid converts pepsinogen to active pepsin by removing a small portion of the molecule and exposing the active sites.

Chemical digestion - Stomach

Pepsin will digest protein into smaller polypeptides. This makes it easier for the protein to undergo further digestion in the small intestine. Contraction of the muscles in stomach wall aids chemical digestion. The stomach will mix the food boluses with the gastric juice, forming a mixture called acid chyme.

Chemical digestion - Stomach

The sphincters in the stomach are always closed. The cardiac orifice will only open if bolus enters (if not heartburn) Pyloric sphincter causes the chyme to enter the small intestine one squirt at a time (2-6 hours)

Chemical digestion Stomach

Movement of chyme is aided by peristalsis

Accessory organs
Consists of the pancreas, liver and gallbladder.

Accessory organs - pancreas

The pancreas is an exocrine organ pancreatic fluid is secreted through the pancreatic duct. The pancreatic fluid contains hydrolytic enzymes i) trypsin and chymotrypsin (protein digestion) ii) pancreatic amylase (carbohydrate digestion) iii) lipase (fat digestion)

Accessory organs - pancreas

The enzymes are released as inactive enzymes called zymogens which will then be activated by the brush border enzymes of the small intestine. Pancreatic fluid also contains bicarbonate that function in neutralizing the HCl from the stomach. The pancreas also plays a role as an endocrine gland.

Accessory organs - pancreas

The main exocrine secretion of the liver is bile which is a mixture of bile pigments and bile salts. The bile pigments (by-products of red blood cell destruction) did not participate in the digestion process. It is eliminated with feces. Bile salts will play an important role in fat digestion (emulsification process).

Accessory organs Gallbladder

Gallbladder functions in storage and concentration of bile salts. The arrival of fatty food to the duodenum triggers a reflex causing contraction and injection of gallbladder to the duodenum.

Hormonal control of digestion

Four hormones altogether i. Gastrin ii. Cholecytoskinin (CCK) iii. Secretin iv. Enterogastrone

Hormonal control of digestion

Gastrin (from stomach) stimulates the production of gastric juice CCK (from duodenum) stimulates the release of digestive enzymes from the pancreas and bile salts from the bladder Secretin (from duodenum) stimulates the release of bicarbonate from the pancreas Enterogastrone (from duodenum) inhibits peristalsis and acid secretion from the stomach slowing digestion of fat

Chemical digestion Small intestine

The epithelial lining of the small intestine is called the brush border that released enzymes. Some enzymes are secreted into the lumen Chyme entering the duodenum will trigger the release of pancreatic juice. The enzymes in the pancreatic juice break down carbohydrates, proteins, fats and nucleic acids

Chemical digestion Small intestine

For protein digestion Trypsin Chymotrypsin Protein Smaller polypeptides Carboxypeptidase Brush border Aminopeptidase enzyme Dipeptidase Small polypeptides Amino acids i.

Chemical digestion Small intestine

ii) For carbohydrate digestion Pancreatic amylase Polysaccharides Di/monosaccharides Disaccharidase Brush border Disaccharides Monosaccharides

Chemical digestion Small intestine

iii) For nucleic acid digestion Pancreatic nucleases DNA and RNA Nucleotides Intestinal nucleases Brush Border Nucleotides Bases/Sugar

Chemical digestion Small intestine

iv) For fat digestion Bile salts Fat globules Fat droplets (Emulsified) Pancreatic Lipase Fat droplets Fatty acids and glycerol

Chemical digestion Small intestine

For fat digestion, a process called emulsification happens in the small intestine. This process functions in accelerating fat digestion. Fats are triglycerides (not water-soluble). In the chyme, they will clump to form fat globules As the fat globules move in the intestinal wall, the movement of the muscle layers breaks apart the fat globules into small droplets that get coated with bile salts.

Chemical digestion Small intestine

Bile salts are negatively charged, making the droplets repel each other (separated with each other) and form an emulsion. Emulsion droplets, which are separated, give fat digesting enzyme lipase a greater surface area to act on. By the time peristalsis has moved the chyme mixture through the duodenum, chemical digestion of our meal is just about to complete.

Chemical digestion Small intestine

Absorption

Carbohydrate absorption Fructose

Absorption: via co transport with Na+, and facilitated diffusion
Enter the capillary bed (blood vessels) in the villi Transported to the liver via the hepatic portal vein

Enzymes used: salivary amylase, pancreatic amylase, and brush border enzymes like dissacharidase

Protein absorption
Absorption: Active transport Enzymes used: pepsin in the stomach Enzymes acting in the small intestine
Pancreatic enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin Brush border enzymes aminopeptidases, carboxypeptidases, and dipeptidases Also transported to hepatic portal vein (to liver) Together with most glucose molecules and vitamins

Protein absorption

Fat absorption
Absorption: Diffusion of micelles (fatty acid, monoglyceride and bile salts) into intestinal cells where they:
Combine to form triglycerides called chylomicrons Enter lacteals and are transported to systemic circulation via lymph

Enzymes/chemicals used: bile salts and pancreatic lipase

Fat absorption

Nucleic acid absorption

Absorption: active transport via membrane carriers Absorbed in villi and transported to liver via hepatic portal vein Enzymes used: pancreatic ribonucleases and intestinal deoxyribonuclease in the small intestines

Absorption
For fats, from the lacteals they will travel to the lymphatic system that will drain to large veins As for carbohydrate, protein, nucleic acids and glycerol, they were taken away from the villi to the hepatic portal vein that leads to the liver for regulation of homeostatic processes.

Vertebrate digestive system

Carnivores usually have large expandable stomach because it is harder for them to catch prey. They can consume 40kg of meat at a time (a lion) They have shorter alimentary canal because it is easier to digest meat as compared to vegetation.

Carnivore digestive system

Vertebrate digestive system

Most herbivores lack enzyme that digest cellulose in the vegetation cell wall, so they depend on microorganisms role to aid in their digestion. Ruminants such as cows, deer and other herbivores, they have multiple stomach chambers in which cellulose is slowly broken down.

Ruminant digestive system (Cow)

The first chamber contains of a rumen and a smaller chamber called recticulum and the second portion consists of two additional chambers called the omasum and abomasum. The breakdown of cellulose in tough plant cell walls happens in the first and second stomach chamber where bacterial symbionts release digestive enzymes to digest the nutrients in cellulose.

Ruminant digestive system (Cow)

The cow will then regurgitates and rechews the contents of the first sac before swallowing again. This process is called rumination. This action exposes more surface area for the enzymes to react, resulting in more nutrients to be released for the hosts benefit. In the omasum water is absorbed In the abomasum, digestion is carried out by the cow's own enzyme. Absorption completed here.

Cow digestive system

Vertebrate digestive system

In animals like rodents and rabbits, the digestion of cellulose is carried out by microorganisms in the enlarged cecum. Because it is located beyond the stomach, regurgitation is impossible. Therefore, they swallowed their feces in order for the absorption process to happen.

Rabbit digestive system

The ingested litter is called cecotropes and rabbits need to ingest it to avoid malnutrition. The fecal pellets are dry, consist of undigested fiber compared to the mucus-coated cecotropes.