The Digestive

System
Prepared by: Daniel Janick M. Razo, MSc
 THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM AND BODY
METABOLISM
• Digestion
• Breakdown of ingested food
• Absorption
• Passage of nutrients into the blood
• Metabolism
• Production of cellular energy (ATP)
 ORGANS OF THE
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
• Two main groups
• Alimentary canal
– continuous
coiled hollow tube
• Accessory
digestive organs
 Organs of the Alimentary
• Mouth
Canal
• Pharynx
• Esophagus
• Stomach
• Small intestine
• Large intestine
• Anus
 Mouth (Oral
Cavity) Anatomy
• Lips (labia) – protect the
anterior opening
• Cheeks – form the lateral walls
• Hard palate – forms the
anterior roof
• Soft palate – forms the
posterior roof
• Uvula – fleshy projection of the
soft palate
 Mouth (Oral Cavity)
Anatomy
• Vestibule – space between lips
externally and teeth and gums
internally
• Oral cavity – area contained by the
teeth
• Tongue – attached at hyoid and
styloid processes of the skull, and by
the lingual frenulum
 Mouth (Oral Cavity)
Anatomy
• Tonsils
❑ Palatine tonsils
❑ Lingual tonsil
 PROCESSES OF THE MOUTH
• Mastication (chewing) of food
• Mixing masticated food with saliva
• Initiation of swallowing by the tongue
• Allowing for the sense of taste
Pharynx Anatomy
• Nasopharynx – not part of
the digestive system
• Oropharynx – posterior to
oral cavity
• Laryngopharynx – below the
oropharynx and connected
to
the esophagus
PHARYNX FUNCTION
• Serves as a passageway for air and food
• Food is propelled to the esophagus by two muscle
layers
• Longitudinal inner layer
• Circular outer layer
• Food movement is by alternating contractions of the
muscle layers (peristalsis)
 ESOPHAGUS
• Runs from pharynx to stomach through the
diaphragm
• Conducts food by peristalsis
(slow rhythmic squeezing)
• Passageway for food only (respiratory system
branches off after the pharynx)
 Layers of Alimentary
•
Canal Organs
Mucosa
• Innermost layer
• Moist membrane
• Surface epithelium
• Small amount of
connective tissue
(lamina propria)
• Small smooth muscle
layer
 Layers of Alimentary
• Submucosa Canal Organs
•Muscularis externa – smooth
• Just beneath the mucosa muscle
• Soft connective tissue with blood •Inner circular layer
vessels, nerve endings, and lymphatics
•Outer longitudinal layer
•Serosa
•Outermost layer – visceral
peritoneum
•Layer of serous fluid-producing
cells
LAYERS OF ALIMENTARY CANAL ORGANS
 STOMACH ANATOMY
• Located on the left side of the •Food empties into the small intestine at
abdominal cavity the pyloric sphincter

• Food enters at the •Rugae – internal folds of the mucosa

cardioesophageal sphincter •External regions
• Regions of the stomach •Lesser curvature
• Cardiac region – near the •Greater curvature
heart
• Fundus
• Body
• Phylorus – funnel-shaped
terminal end
 STOMACH ANATOMY
• Layers of peritoneum
attached to the stomach
• Lesser omentum – attaches
the liver to the lesser
curvature
• Greater omentum – attaches
the greater curvature to the
posterior body wall
• Contains fat to insulate,
cushion, and protect
abdominal organs
STOMACH FUNCTIONS
• Acts as a storage tank for food
• Site of food breakdown
• Chemical breakdown of protein
begins
• Delivers chyme (processed food)
to the small intestine
 Specialized Mucosa
of the Stomach
• Simple columnar epithelium
• Mucous neck cells – produce a sticky alkaline mucus
• Gastric glands – secrete gastric juice
• Chief cells – produce protein-digesting enzymes (pepsinogens)
• Parietal cells – produce hydrochloric acid
• Endocrine cells – produce gastrin
 STRUCTURE OF THE
STOMACH MUCOSA
• Gastric pits formed
by folded mucosa
• Glands and
specialized cells are
in the gastric gland
region
 SMALL INTESTINE
• The body’s major digestive organ
• Site of nutrient absorption into the
blood
• Muscular tube extending form the
pyloric sphincter to the ileocecal
valve
• Suspended from the posterior
abdominal wall by the mesentery
 Subdivisions of the Small Intestine
• Duodenum
• Attached to the stomach
• Curves around the head of the
pancreas
• Jejunum
• Attaches anteriorly to the
duodenum
• Ileum
• Extends from jejunum to large
intestine
 VILLI OF THE SMALL INTESTINE
• Fingerlike structures
formed by the mucosa
• Give the small intestine
more surface area
MICROVILLI OF THE SMALL INTESTINE

• Small projections of the

plasma membrane
• Found on absorptive
cells
STRUCTURES INVOLVED IN ABSORPTION
OF NUTRIENTS

• Absorptive cells
• Blood capillaries
• Lacteals (specialized
lymphatic capillaries)
DIGESTION IN THE SMALL INTESTINE
• Enzymes from the brush border • Pancreatic enzymes play the major
• Break double sugars into digestive function (continued)
simple sugars • Responsible for fat digestion
• Complete some protein (lipase)
digestion
• Digest nucleic acids
• Pancreatic enzymes play the (nucleases)
major digestive function
• Alkaline content neutralizes
• Help complete digestion of acidic chyme
starch (pancreatic amylase)
• Carry out about half of all
protein digestion (trypsin,
etc.)
 ABSORPTION IN THE SMALL
INTESTINE
• Water is absorbed along the length of the small intestine
• End products of digestion
• Most substances are absorbed by active transport through cell
membranes
• Lipids are absorbed by diffusion
• Substances are transported to the liver by the hepatic portal
vein or lymph
 PROPULSION IN THE
SMALL INTESTINE
• Peristalsis is the major means of moving food
• Segmental movements
• Mix chyme with digestive juices
• Aid in propelling food
 LARGE INTESTINE
• Larger in diameter,
but shorter than the
small intestine
• Frames the internal
abdomen
 FUNCTIONS OF THE LARGE
INTESTINE
• Absorption of water
• Eliminates indigestible food from the body as feces
• Does not participate in digestion of food
• Goblet cells produce mucus to act as a lubricant
 Structures of the Large Intestine
• Cecum – saclike first part of • Colon
the large intestine • Ascending
• Appendix • Transverse
• Accumulation of lymphatic • Descending
tissue that sometimes • S-shaped sigmoidal
becomes inflamed
(appendicitis) • Rectum
• Anus – external body opening
• Hangs from the cecum
 Food Breakdown and Absorption in
the Large Intestine
• No digestive enzymes are produced
• Resident bacteria digest remaining nutrients
• Produce some vitamin K and B
• Release gases
• Water and vitamins K and B are absorbed
• Remaining materials are eliminated via feces
 PROPULSION IN THE LARGE
INTESTINE
• Sluggish peristalsis
• Mass movements
• Slow, powerful movements
• Occur three to four times per day
• Presence of feces in the rectum causes a defecation reflex
• Internal anal sphincter is relaxed
• Defecation occurs with relaxation of the voluntary (external) anal
sphincter
 ACCESSORY DIGESTIVE
ORGANS
• Salivary glands
• Teeth
• Pancreas
• Liver
• Gall bladder
 SALIV AR Y G LANDS
• Saliva-producing glands
• Parotid glands – located anterior to ears
• Submandibular glands
• Sublingual glands
 SALIV A
• Mixture of mucus and serous fluids
• Helps to form a food bolus
• Contains salivary amylase to begin starch digestion
• Dissolves chemicals so they can be tasted
 T EET H
• The role is to masticate • Permanent teeth
(chew) food
• Replace deciduous teeth
• Humans have two sets of beginning between the ages of
teeth 6 to 12
• Deciduous (baby or • A full set is 32 teeth, but some
milk) teeth people do not have wisdom
teeth
• 20 teeth are fully
formed by age two
CLASSIFICATION OF TEETH
• Incisors
• Canines
• Premolars
• Molars
REGIONS OF A TOOTH
• Crown – exposed part • Root
• Outer enamel • Periodontal membrane
• Dentin attached to the bone
• Pulp cavity • Root canal carrying blood
• Neck vessels and nerves
• Region in contact with the gum
• Connects crown to root
REGIONS
OF A
TOOTH
 PANC R EAS
• Produces a wide spectrum of digestive enzymes that break
down all categories of food
• Enzymes are secreted into the duodenum
• Alkaline fluid introduced with enzymes neutralizes acidic
chyme
• Endocrine products of pancreas
• Insulin
• Glucagons
 LIV ER
• Largest gland in the body
• Located on the right side of the body under the diaphragm
• Consists of four lobes suspended from the diaphragm and
abdominal wall by the falciform ligament
• Connected to the gall bladder via the common hepatic duct
 BILE
• Produced by cells in the liver
• Composition
• Bile salts
• Bile pigment (mostly bilirubin from the breakdown of
hemoglobin)
• Cholesterol
• Phospholipids
• Electrolytes
 ROLE OF THE LIVER IN
METABOLISM
• Several roles in digestion
• Detoxifies drugs and alcohol
• Degrades hormones
• Produce cholesterol, blood proteins (albumin and clotting
proteins)
• Plays a central role in metabolism
 GALL BLADDER
• Sac found in hollow fossa of liver
• Stores bile from the liver by way of the cystic duct
• Bile is introduced into the duodenum in the
presence of fatty food
• Gallstones can cause blockages
Processes of the Digestive
System
• Ingestion – getting food into the
mouth
• Propulsion – moving foods from
one region of the digestive
system to another
• Peristalsis – alternating waves of
contraction
• Segmentation – moving
materials back and forth to aid in
mixing
 PROCESSES OF THE DIGESTIVE
SYSTEM • Chemical Digestion
• Mechanical
digestion • Enzymes break down food molecules into
their building blocks
• Mixing of food in
the mouth by the • Each major food group uses different
tongue enzymes
• Churning of food • Carbohydrates are broken to simple
in the stomach sugars
• Segmentation in • Proteins are broken to amino acids
the small
intestine • Fats are broken to fatty acids and
alcohols
 PROCESSES OF THE DIGESTIVE
SYSTEM
• Absorption
• End products of digestion are
absorbed in the blood or lymph
• Food must enter mucosal cells
and then into blood or lymph
capillaries
• Defecation
• Elimination of indigestible
substances as feces
 CONTROL OF DIGESTIVE
ACTIVITY
• Mostly controlled by • Stimuli include:
reflexes via the • Stretch of the organ
parasympathetic division • pH of the contents
• Presence of breakdown products
• Chemical and mechanical
receptors are located in • Reflexes include:
organ walls that trigger • Activation or inhibition of glandular
secretions
reflexes
• Smooth muscle activity
 NUT R IT ION
• Nutrient – substance used by the body for growth,
maintenance, and repair
• Categories of nutrients
• Carbohydrates: simple sugars, starches, fiber
• Lipids: triglycerides, phospholipids, fatty acids
• Proteins: amino acids
• Vitamins
• Mineral
• Water
THANK YOU!