During week 3 of human development, the process of gastrulation occurs process called recanalization occurs, and the esophagus
ccurs, and the esophagus turns it into
generating the three germinal layers, ectoderm, endoderm, mesoderm.
As a result of cephalocaudal (head to tail) and lateral folding of the embryo,
and incorporation of yolk sac the primitive gut tube is formed.
The gastrointestinal system has the divisions: the foregut, midgut, and hindgut.
• The foregut (or anterior gut) is from the oral cavity to the initial part of
the duodenum.
• The midgut is from the mid-duodenum to the initial two-thirds of the
transverse colon.
• The hindgut is from the later one-third transverse colon to the upper
portion of the anus.
The three sections of the GI tract have different blood supplies;
• Foregut receives vascular supply by the celiac artery
• Midgut were supplied by superior mesentery artery
• Hindgut gets its supply from the inferior mesentery artery
Foregut (Esophagus)
• The foregut gives rise to the superior part of the digestive tube
• At the very top of the foregut, starting at the buccopharyngeal
membrane, there’s the primitive pharynx, which is initially just five
sets of symmetrical pharyngeal arches.
• These pharyngeal arches turn into various bones, muscles, and
cartilages of the head and neck, and the last two arches give rise to
the final pharynx.
• Below the pharynx, the foregut gives rise to the esophagus.
• In this region, there’s an outpouching of endoderm called the lung bud,
and it sprouts from the anterior wall of the foregut.
• During week 4, the tracheoesophageal septum forms a barrier that
separates the lung bud from the foregut;
o anterior compartment develops into the trachea and lungs,
o posterior compartment develops into the esophagus.
• The esophageal epithelium and glands derive from the foregut
endoderm, whereas the esophageal muscles derive from the
surrounding mesoderm.
• The epithelium proliferates and initially fills up the lumen of the
esophagus, turning it into a solid rod of tissue, but by week 8, a
the hollow tube we know and love.
Foregut (Stomach)
• Under the esophagus, there’s the primitive stomach which starts out
as a small dilation of the foregut.
• The stomach has a dorsal, or posterior border, and a ventral, or
anterior border.
• The dorsal border is anchored to the posterior body wall by a two-
layered sheet of mesoderm tissue called the dorsal mesogastrium.
• The ventral border is anchored to the anterior body wall by another
two-layered sheet, the ventral mesogastrium.
• Week 5
o Liver grows in between the layers of ventral mesogastrium
o Spleen grows in dorsal mesogastrium
• The dorsal border of the stomach grows a lot faster than the ventral
border and forms the greater curvature of the stomach, while the
ventral border becomes the lesser curvature.
Rotation
Through time it will develop and become a bigger, it undergoes a 90-degree,
clockwise rotation along its length, pulling the dorsal mesogastrium and ventral
mesogastrium with it.
This moves the greater curvature to the left side of the body, and the lesser
curvature to the right side, and the stomach now has an anterior and a
posterior face
As the stomach rotates, the ventral mesogastrium becomes the lesser
omentum. Dorsal mesogastrium becomes the greater omentum.
Liver, Pancreas, Gallbladder
• The last portion of the foregut will develop into the liver, the
gallbladder, and the pancreas from the endodermal outgrowth layer.
• The liver bud, also known as the hepatic diverticulum, gives rise to
the liver, the gallbladder, and the biliary duct system.
• The liver bud separates into two parts:
o a larger, superior portion that becomes the liver
o a smaller, inferior part that becomes the gallbladder
 • The pancreas, there are actually two pancreatic buds, a ventral bud o At the end of week 7, the separation is complete and the anal
and a dorsal bud, and the two eventually unite to give rise to a membrane ruptures, so that the anal canal is now continuous and
single organ. opens in the tail-region of the embryo.
• The dorsal bud appears first and forms the body, the tail and most of
the pancreatic head.
• The smaller ventral bud unites with the dorsal bud when the
duodenum rotates, and it gives rise to the rest of the pancreatic head.

Midgut

• During rapid gut tube growth, primary intestinal loop herniates

through vitelline duct, develops inside umbilical cord. Called
physiologic gut herniation, and it lasts until week 10.
• Primary intestinal loop protrudes inside umbilical cord, superior
mesenteric artery grows between loop's two limbs
o Cranial limb: initially develops above superior mesenteric
artery
o Caudal limb: develops below superior mesenteric artery
• First, loop rotates 90° counterclockwise around axis of superior
mesenteric artery
o Moves cranial limb to right side of artery, inferior limb to left
• Cranial limb becomes convoluted
o Marks future jejunum, ileum
• Caudal limb develops small dilation
o Eventually becomes cecum, appendix
• Week 10: loop rotates final 180°, moves into abdominal cavity
o Formerly caudal limb now frames developing small intestine
loops, becomes ascending colon, right ⅔ of transverse colon
• Overall, the midgut undergoes 270° counterclockwise rotation
around the axis of the superior mesenteric artery

Hindgut
o lower portion of the anal canal derives from the primitive anus, or
proctodeum, which is a pit of ectoderm that forms just below the
cloacal membrane.
o Also, during week 4, the urorectal septum forms, and it separates the
cloaca into an anterior urogenital sinus and a posterior anal canal,
which are covered by the urogenital membrane and the anal
membrane, respectively.