Physiology of Digestive

System
Physical and chemical breakdown of
food products
so that they can be absorbed and
transported to cells.
• Digestive system handles
each nutrient differently
– Large organic molecules
• Must be digested before absorption can
occur
– Water, electrolytes, and vitamins
• Can be absorbed without processing
• May require special transport
• Involves passive water flow down osmotic
gradients
• Carbohydrates
– eventually broken down into Monosaccharides
(simple sugars)

• Proteins
– broken down to amino acids. Amino acids are the
chemical building blocks of proteins

• Lipids
– broken down to fatty acids and glycerol.
– Lipids are very large molecules and cannot be
directly absorbed.
– are broken down by Enzymes which are organic
Catalysts.
How does
“Digestion” occur?
• Ingestion
– Taking in food through
the mouth
• Propulsion (movement of
food)
– Swallowing
– Peristalsis : alternate
waves of muscular
contraction and relaxation
in the primary digestive
organs.
• Mechanical digestion
– Chewing
– Churning in stomach
– Mixing by segmentation
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• Chemical digestion
– Release of water ,acids,
buffers, enzymes & salts
by epithelium of GI tract
and glandular organs
• Absorption
– Transport of digested
end products into blood
and lymph in wall of
canal
• Egestion
– Elimination of
indigestible substances
from body as feces
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 Propulsion of food in digestive system
Peristalsis
• Series of involuntary
wave-like muscle
contractions which
move food along the
digestive tract
• The end result is to
squeeze food from one
part of the system to
the next.
 Ingestion
Mechanical Digestion-chemical digestion
• Food enters the human digestive tract
through the mouth or oral cavity.
• Physical breakdown of food begins with
the teeth grinding the food and
increasing its surface area which allows
for easier chemical digestion
• Saliva from the salivary glands begins
chemical digestion of starches.
• salivary amylase which breaks down
starches into simpler carbohydrates.
• Saliva also lubricates the food and
helps to form a bolus
 Esophagus

The bolus moves down

the esophagus

propelled by wave-like
muscular contractions
known as peristalsis.
 Stomach
• Temporary storage for about
4 hours in the stomach.
• Gastric fluid consists of mucus,
hydrochloric acid, pepsinogens
• Mucus coats and protects the
lining of the stomach.
• Hydrochloric acid kills any
harmful substances that have
been ingested
• Mucus also converts pepsinogen
into pepsin.
• Pepsin : initial protein digestion.
 sphincters Stomach
• Movement of food into
and out of the stomach
is controlled by circular
muscles -sphincters.
• One at the top of the
stomach allows food
from the esophagus to
enter and prevents
food going back up
• Another located at the
bottom slowly releases
partially digested food
(chyme)into the small
intestine.
Small Intestine
• Food enters the
small intestine as
semi-solid chyme is
acidic due to the
HCl in the stomach.
• The presence of
chyme in the small
intestine triggers
the conversion of
prosecretin into
secretin
• secretinabsorbed
into the blood
stream and carried
to the pancreas
Pancreas
• Accessory organ of the
digestive system.
• Releases chemicals to
aid in digestion.
• Secretin will stimulate
the pancreas to release
a solution containing
bicarbonate ion into the
small intestine where it
will neutralize the
acidic chyme
• Chyme ph raise from
2.5 to 9.0 hence pepsin
is inactivated the
 Pancreas & Proteins
• Trypsinogen
– a protein-digesting
enzyme is released into
the small intestine
where it is convertes
into trypsin
– it breaks down large
protein chains into
smaller chains.
• Release of erepsins from
the pancreas break the
smaller chains into
individual amino acids.
Pancreas and Carbohydrates
• Amylase enzymes are
released from the
pancreas that break large
carbohydrate chains into
small chains called
disaccharides.
• Then the small intestine
releases disaccharide
enzymes which break
those small chains into
individual sugars.
 Pancreas and Lipids
• The pancreas also
releases enzymes
known as lipases that
break down fats into
fatty acids and
glycerol.

• Before lipids can be

broken down by
lipases they must
first be emulsified.
 Liver • liver -a large accessory organ
Gall Bladder constantly producing bile.
• Bile is stored in the
gallbladder until it is needed in
the small intestine.
• Presence of lipids in the small
intestine trigger the release
of the hormone
cholecystokinin (CCK) ,which
triggers the release of bile
from the gall bladder.
• Bile contains bile salts that
emulsifies fats i.e breaks them
into smaller droplets so they
can be digested.
 Absorption of Materials
.
Transfer of the digested portion of food
into the blood from the digestive canal.
 Absorption of Nutrients
• Most nutrients are absorbed in the small
intestine.
• The small intestine is lined with millions of
small finger-like projections villi.
• The villi increase the surface are of the small
intestine which increases it’s ability to
absorbed digested nutrients.
Physiology of the Large Intestine
• Chemical digestion of nutrients is
completed by the time it reaches the
large intestine
• Absorption in the Large Intestine
– Reabsorption of water
– Reabsorption of bile salts-Transported back
to liver
• Absorption of vitamins produced by
bacteria
– Vitamin K , Biotin ,Pantothenic acid
• Absorption of organic wastes
 Organic Wastes: Egestion

Organic Wastes
– Bacteria convert bilirubin to urobilinogens and
stercobilinogens

– Bacteria break down peptides in feces and

generate
• Ammonia, Indole & skatole, hydrogen sulfide
– Bacteria feed on indigestible carbohydrates
(complex polysaccharides)
• Produce flatus, or intestinal gas, in large intestine
Egestion :removal/elimination of the waste
products from the body.