6529 Systemic Anatomy and Physiology

Week 5 Tutorial (4 September 2020)

Gastrointestinal system

 Regulation of digestion involves mechanoreceptors and chemoreceptors – both

what’s in the food, and how stretch our stomach’s been
 Organs involved in digestion can be divided into two main components:
o The gastrointestinal tract: the series of key organs used to perform the
basic functions
 Mouth
 Chemical digestion of lipids begins in the mouth, using
lingual lipase – isn’t very effective, but can start the breaking
down process
 Pharynx: dual function pathway for both food and air, comprised of
three sections:
 Nasopharynx (back of the nasal cavity)
 Oropharynx (back of the mouth)
 Layrngeopharynx (just before the separation of the trachea
and oesophagus
 Oesophagus: the tube into the stomach
 Comprised of stratified squamous epithelium cells
 Barrett’s oesophagus: an unusual change of the cell
structure of the oesophagus into simple columnar
epithelium cells that protect against acid – but increases
risks of cancers
 Stomach
 Endocrine function secrets some hormones, e.g. gastrin
 Exocrine functions
 General digestive functions: churning, mixing, food storage,
etc.
 Small intestine
 Three parts: duodenum, jejunum, ileum
 Large intestine
 Has “haustra”, small pocket-like bumps which hold content,
passing food down slowly – the effects of this shape are
evidenced in the shape of excretions
o A tool to compact and reabsorb water
o Accessory organs that aren’t directly part of the tract, but vital for the
process
 Teeth
 Tongue
 Salivary glands
 Liver
 Gallbladder
 Pancreas
 Process of digestion: multiple activities needed to be performed through the
length of the intestinal system

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 6529 Systemic Anatomy and Physiology
Week 5 Tutorial (4 September 2020)

o Ingestion: taking food into the mouth

o Secretion: release of water, acid, buffers, enzymes, etc. into the
gastrointestinal tract
o Propulsion: not just propelling the material, but can also involve mixing all
down the tract past the mouth
o Digestion
 Mechanical digestion
 Chemical digestion: uses three main enzymes
 Amylase (breaks down carbohydrades)
 Lipase (breaks down fats)
 Pepsin (breaks down proteins)
o Absorption: the intestinal epithelium all across the system absorbs
accessed nutrients
o Defecation: expulsion of undigestible materials
 Appendix is lymphoid tissue, similar to tonsils, and therefore related to immune
function
o Hence it can be safely removed without impacting digestion
 Layers of the gastrointestinal tract, in order from deepest to most superficial:
o Mucosa: innermost layer, secrets mucus, hormones and digestive
enzymes; protects the tract; absorbs end product
 Composition:
 Epithelium: mostly composed of columnar epithelial cells,
varying in location
o Goblet cells that secrete a mucus to protect us from
self-digestion and lubricate the passage
 Lamina propria: underlying connective tissue layer
 Muscularis mucosae: a smooth muscle layer, does localised
moments to ensure maximal surface area exposure and
reabsorption of nutrients
o Submucosa: connective tissue, with blood, lymph, nerves
 Has elastic fibres that enable stretching and rebounding after a
large dinner
 May contain glands, mucus, etc.
o Muscularis: two layers of muscular tissue - inner circular muscle and
longitudinal muscle
 The contraction of these layers leads to peristalsis
 Curcular muscle can thicken to form sphincters
 The stomach has an additional oblique layer on the outside to aid in
mixing and churning processes
o Serosa: connective tissue layer, function is mostly protective
o The same four layers are mostly found in the entire tract, with some
differences in place to place
 Stages of swallowing:
o Oral phase:

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 6529 Systemic Anatomy and Physiology
Week 5 Tutorial (4 September 2020)

 Food is lubricated and shaped into a bolus via mastication, then

propelled into the pharynx
 Tongue moves the bolus toward the back of the mouth
 This is a skill we must develop and learn (this is why babies
are such messy eaters – they haven’t learned this)
 Uvula and epiglottus direct the flow of the bolus
 A voluntary process
o Pharyngeal stage:
 Starts when the bolus passes the mouth and enters the oropharynx
 An involuntary process
 Uvula rises and epiglottus flattens to protect respiratory tract from
food entering it
o Oesophageal stage:
 Passes the bolus through the oesophagus and into the stomach
 An involuntary process
 Gastric glands:
o Surface mucous cells: secretes mucous
o Mucous neck cells: secrets mucous
 Continually dividing and replacing anything that’s sloughed off into
the lumen
o Parietal cells: secrets hydrochloric acid and intrinsic factor
 Intrinsic factor is the only actual essential factor of the stomach -
necessary for the absorption of vitamin B12
o Chief cells: secretes pepsinogen (precursor to the active pepsin) and
gastric lipase
o G cell: an enteroendocrine cell that secretes the hormone gastrin
 Gastrin is important to control stomach functions – stimulates
parietal and chief chells into producing their contributions
o Delta cells: when activated, will dampen the secretions triggered by
gastrin
 Phases of gastric juice release:
o Cephalic phase – triggered in the brain, about 30% of the response
 Sight of food triggers a conditioned reflex in the cerebral cortex
that increases gastric secretions
 Smelling/tasting food stimulates the hypothalamis to increase it
even more
o Gastric phase – triggered in the gastrointestinal system, sets to work
approx. 3-4 hours after eating
o Intestinal phase:
 A brief excitatory effect as digested food passes in, then inhibitory
to turn the system off once the job is done
 Excitatory: the presence of partially digested food in a low pH
environment in the duodenum, after the stomach begins to empty,
releases intestinal gastrin into the blood
 Inhibitory:

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 6529 Systemic Anatomy and Physiology
Week 5 Tutorial (4 September 2020)

 Saliva is composed mainly of water (approx. 95-98%)

 Diarrhea is a mechanism to flush the system
o Hastens foodstuffs through the system with minimal uptake of water and
nutrients
o This result in both the watery consistency of the excretion and feelings of
illness during it
 Anything with “-gen” at the end of its name is a precursor to another element
 CCK: a hormone that triggers the release of enzyme-rich pancreatic juice

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