Lec.

17 General Histology Second class

Dr. Muthanna Kamal Ali

Organs associated with the digestive tract

The organs associated with the digestive tract include the major salivary glands, the pancreas, the
liver, and the gallbladder. Products of these organs facilitate transport and digestion of food within
the gastrointestinal tract.

The main functions of the salivary glands are to moisten and lubricate ingested food and the oral
mucosa, to initiate the digestion of carbohydrates and lipids with amylase and lipase, and to
secrete innate immune components such as lysozyme and lactoferrin.

The pancreas secretes digestive enzymes that act in the small intestine and hormones important for
the metabolism of the absorbed nutrients.

Bile, whose components are necessary for digestion and absorption of fats, is made in the liver but
stored and concentrated in the gallbladder.

The liver also plays a major role in carbohydrate and protein metabolism, inactivates many toxic
substances and drugs, and synthesizes most plasma proteins and factors necessary for blood
coagulation.

Salivary Glands

Exocrine glands in the mouth produce saliva, which has digestive, lubricating, and protective
functions. With a normal pH of 6.5 to 6.9, saliva also has an important buffering function. There
are three pairs of large salivary glands: the parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands, in
addition to the numerous minor mucosal salivary glands throughout the oral cavity, which secrete
about 10% of the total saliva volume.

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Histology of Salivary Glands

A connective tissue capsule surrounds each major salivary gland. The parenchyma (the functional
tissue) of each consists of secretory units on a branching duct system arranged in lobules,
separated by septa of connective tissue. The secretion of each gland is either serous, seromucous.
Saliva from the parotids is serous and watery, the submandibular and sublingual glands produce a
seromucous secretion, while that of the minor glands is mostly mucous.

Three epithelial cell types comprise the salivary secretory units: Fig 1

1. Serous cells are pyramidal in shape, with round nuclei, well-stained RER, and apical
secretory granules, serous cells form a somewhat spherical unit called an acinus, with a very
small central lumen. Serous acinar cells secrete enzymes and other proteins.
2. Mucous cells are more columnar in shape, with more compressed basal nuclei. Mucous cells
contain apical granules with hydrophilic mucins that provide lubricating properties in saliva
but cause poor cell staining in routine preparations. Mucous cells are most often organized
as cylindrical tubules rather than acini. Mixed salivary glands have tubule-acinar secretory
units with both serous and mucous secretion.
3. Myoepithelial cells, are found inside the basal lamina surrounding acini, tubules, and the
proximal ends of the duct system. These small, flattened cells extend several contractile
processes around the associated secretory unit or duct and their activity is important for
moving secretory products into and through the ducts. In the intralobular duct system,
secretory acini and tubules empty into short intercalated ducts, lined by cuboidal epithelial
cells, and several of these ducts join to form a striated duct.

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 Fig 1 Histology of Salivary gland

Plasma cells in the connective tissue surrounding the small intralobular ducts release IgA, which
forms a complex with the secretory component, the IgA complex released into the saliva provides
defense against specific pathogens in the oral cavity.

Before emptying into the oral cavity, the main duct of each gland is lined with nonkeratinized
stratified squamous epithelium. Vessels and nerves enter the large salivary glands and branch into
the lobules. A rich vascular and nerve plexus surrounds the secretory and duct components of each
lobule.

Specific features of major salivary glands

■■ Parotid glands, located in each cheek near the ear, are branched acinar glands with exclusively
serous acini. Serous cells of parotid glands secrete abundant α-amylase that initiates hydrolysis of
carbohydrates and proline-rich proteins with antimicrobial and other protective properties.

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■■ Submandibular glands, which produce two-thirds of all saliva, are branched tubule-acinar
glands, having primarily serous acini, but with many mixed tubulo-acinar secretory units. Serous
cells of these mixed units are mostly in peripheral crescent shaped groups called serous demilunes.
In addition to α-amylase and proline-rich proteins, serous cells of the submandibular gland secrete
other enzymes, including lysozyme for bacterial wall hydrolysis.

■■ Sublingual glands, the smallest of the major glands, are also considered branched tubule-acinar
glands, secretory tubules of mucous cells predominate and the main product of the gland is mucus.

Minor salivary glands

Small, nonencapsulated salivary glands are distributed throughout the oral mucosa and submucosa
with short ducts to the oral cavity. These minor salivary glands are usually mucous, except for the
small serous glands at the bases of circumvallate papillae. Plasma cells releasing IgA are also
common within the minor salivary glands.

Pancreas

The pancreas is a mixed exocrine-endocrine gland that produces both digestive enzymes and
hormones. It is an elongated with a large head near the duodenum and more narrow body and tail
regions that extend to the left. Fig 2.

Fig 2 pancreas

The pancreas has a thin capsule of connective tissue, from which septa extend to cover the larger
vessels and ducts and to separate the parenchyma into lobules. The secretory acini are surrounded
by a basal lamina that is supported only by a delicate sheath of reticular fibers with a rich capillary
network. Endocrine function of the pancreas involves primarily smaller cells similar to
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enteroendocrine cells located in variously sized clusters called the pancreatic islets (islets of
Langerhans). The digestive enzymes are produced by cells of serous acini in the larger exocrine
portion of the pancreas. This somewhat resembles the parotid gland histologically, although the
pancreas lacks striated ducts and the parotid glands lack islets of endocrine tissue. Each pancreatic
acinus consists of several serous cells surrounding a very small lumen, without myoepithelial cells.
The acinar cells are polarized, with round basal nuclei, and numerous granules apically, typical of
protein secreting cells. Each acinus is drained by a short-intercalated duct of simple squamous
epithelium. Fig 3

Fig 3 Histology of pancreas

Liver

The liver is the largest internal organ, in adults averaging about 1.5 kg or 2% of the body weight.
Located in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen just below the diaphragm, the liver has major
left and right lobes with two smaller inferior lobes, most of which are covered by a thin capsule
and mesothelium of the visceral peritoneum. The capsule thickens on the inferior side, where the
dual blood supply from the hepatic portal vein and hepatic artery enters the organ and where the
hepatic vein, lymphatics, and common hepatic (bile) duct exit. Fig 4

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 Fig 4 Anatomy of liver

The main digestive function of the liver is production of bile, a complex substance required for the
hydrolysis, and uptake of fats in the duodenum. The liver is also the major interface between the
digestive system and the blood, as the organ in which nutrients absorbed in the small intestine are
processed before distribution throughout the body.

Hepatocytes (key cells of this organ), the most functionally diverse cells of the body. In addition
to an exocrine function in the secretion of bile components, hepatocytes and other liver cells
process the contents of blood, with many specific functions:

1- Synthesis and endocrine secretion into the blood of the major plasma proteins, including
albumins, fibrinogen, apolipoproteins, transferrin.
2- Conversion of amino acids into glucose (gluconeogenesis)
3- Breakdown of ingested toxins, including many drugs
4- Amino acid deamination, producing urea removed from blood in kidneys
5- Storage of glucose in glycogen granules and triglycerides in small lipid droplets
6- Storage of vitamin A (in hepatic stellate cells) and other fat-soluble vitamins
7- Removal of effete erythrocytes (by specialized macrophages, or Kupffer cells)
8- Storage of iron in complexes with the protein ferritin

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Hepatocytes & Hepatic Lobules

The liver has unique histologic organization and microvasculature. Hepatocytes are large cuboidal
or polyhedral epithelial cells, with large, round central nuclei and eosinophilic cytoplasm rich in
mitochondria. The cells are frequently binucleated and about 50% of them are polyploid. Fig 5.

Fig 5 Hepatocytes & Hepatic Lobules

The liver parenchyma is organized as thousands of small (~0.7 × 2 mm) hepatic lobules in which
hepatocytes form hundreds of irregular plates arranged radially around a small central vein. The
hepatocyte plates are supported by a delicate stroma of reticulin fibers.

Two other functionally important cells are found with the sinusoids of hepatic lobules:

■■ Kupffer cells: Numerous specialized stellate macrophages, are found within the sinusoid
lining (branches of the portal vein in the liver). These cells recognize and phagocytose aged
erythrocytes, also antigen-presenting cells and remove any bacteria or debris present in the portal
blood.

■■ Stellate cells (Ito cells): hepatic cells with small lipid droplets that store vitamin A and other
fat-soluble vitamins seen in perisinusoidal space (between a hepatocyte and a sinusoid). These
mesenchymal cells also produce extracellular matrix (ECM) components and cytokines that help
regulate Kupffer cell activity.

The regenerated liver tissue is usually well organized, with the typical lobular arrangement, and
replaces the functions of the destroyed tissue. This regenerative capacity is important clinically

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because one major liver lobe can sometimes be donated by a living relative for surgical transplant
and full liver function restored in both donor and recipient.

Gallbladder

The gall bladder is a simple muscular sac, lined by a simple columnar epithelium. It receives and
stores bile from the liver via the hepatic and then cystic duct, and can store about 50 to 100ml in
humans. It is attached to the visceral layer of the liver. The gall bladder is stimulated to contract
and expel the bile into the duodenum, by the hormone produced by the endocrine cells of the
duodenal mucosa. The production of this enzyme is stimulated by the presence of fat in the
proximal duodenum. The contractions expel bile into the common bile duct, and the bile is then
carried to the duodenum. The inner surface of the gall bladder is covered by the mucosa. The
surface is made up of a simple columnar epithelium. The epithelial cells have microvilli, and look
like absorptive cells in the intestine. Underneath the epithelium is the lamina propria. The wall of
the bladder does not have a muscularis mucosae and submucosa. The muscularis externa (muscle
layer) contains bundles of smooth muscle cells, collagen and elastic fibers. Underneath this, on the
outside of the gall bladder is a thick layer of connective tissue, which contains large blood vessels,
nerves and a lymphatic network. Where this layer is attached to the liver, it is called the adventia.
In the unattached region, there is an outer layer of mesothelium and loose connective tissue (the
serosa). Fig6. Gallbladder removal due to obstruction or chronic inflammation leads to the direct
flow of bile from liver to gut, with few major consequences on digestion.

Fig 6 Gallbladder