Digestive system

Function of the digestive system

• 1. Take in food. Food and water are taken into the body through the mouth.
• 2. Break down the food. The food that is taken into the body is broken
down during the process of digestion from complex molecules to smaller
molecules that can be absorbed
• 3. Absorb digested molecules. The small molecules that result from
digestion are absorbed through the walls of the intestine for use in the
body.
• 4. Provide nutrients. The process of digestion and absorption provides the
body with water,electrolytes,and other nutrients such as vitamins and
minerals.
• 5. Eliminate wastes. Undigested material, such as fiber from food, plus
waste products excreted into the digestive tract are eliminated in the feces.
Organs of the Digestive System
 Organs of the Digestive System
 Two main groups
1.Alimentary canal or gastrointestinal tract –
continuous coiled hollow tube from mouth to
anus(5-7 meter)
2.Accessory digestive organs: teeth ,tongue
,salivary gland ,liver ,gallbladder ,and
pancreas
Organs of the Alimentary Canal
 Mouth
 Pharynx
 Esophagus
 Stomach
 Small intestine
 Large intestine
 Anus
 Layers of Alimentary Canal Organs
• MUCOSA (INNER MOST LAYER)
• The innermost tunic, the mucosa consists of
mucous epithelium,
• a loose, irregular connective tissue called the
lamina propria, and a thin smooth muscle layer,
the muscularis mucosa.
• The epithelium is thickened in the mouth,
esophagus, and anus to resist abrasion and is thin
in the intestine for absorption and secretion
 Submucosa
 Just beneath the mucosa
 Soft connective tissue with blood vessels,
nerve endings, and lymphatics also contain
submucosal plexus
 Muscularis externa – smooth muscle
1. Inner circular layer
• 2.Outer longitudinal layer Between them is
myenteric plexus
• Together the nerve plexuses of the submucosa and muscularis compose
the enteric plexus. This plexus is extremely important in the control of
movement and secretion within the tract.
• Serosa
• The fourth, or outermost, layer of the
digestive tract is either a serosa or an
adventitia
 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
 Vestibule – space between lips
externally and teeth and gums internally
 Oral cavity – area contained by the
teeth
 Tongue – attached at hyoid bone and
styloid processes of the skull, and by the
lingual frenulum
 Salivary glands

-Parotid gland:largest of salivary glands located

just anterior to each ear . The parotid duct opens
near the upper 2nd molar tooth. The gland is
completely serous.
Submandibular gland:Each gland can be felt as a
soft lump along the inferior border of the
mandible. The submandibular ducts open into the
oral cavity on each side of the frenulum of the
tongue.. It is mostly serous but partially mucus,.
Sublingual gland:the smallest of the three paired
salivary glands, produce primarily mucous
secretions. They lie immediately below the mucous
membrane in the floor of the oral cavity. Each
sublingual gland has 10 to 12 small ducts opening
onto the floor of the oral cavity.
Composition of saliva
Saliva is the combined secretions from the salivary glands and the
small mucus-secreting glands of the lining of the oral cavity. About
1.5 litres of saliva is produced daily and it consists of:
water
mineral salts
enzyme: salivary amylase
mucus
lysozyme
immunoglobulins
blood-clotting factors.
Functions of saliva
Chemical digestion of polysaccharides. Lubrication of food.
Cleansing and lubricating.
Non-specific defence.

Taste.
Mumps (m˘umpz) is a type of parotiditis an inflammation of the
parotid gland, caused by a viral infection
• Teeth
(mechanical breakdown)
– Incisors used for
cutting
– Canines used for
stabbing and holding
– Molars large surface
area used for grinding
• Primary or
deciduous teeth 20
• Secondary or
permanent teeth 32
Teeth Canines

 Four types of teeth:

1. Incisors
Incisors
2. Canines
3. Pre – Molars
4. Molars

Premolar

Molar
 Biting Grasping
and and
Cutting Tearing

Incisor Canine

Grinding Grinding
and and
Crushing Crushing
Pre - Molar Molar
 Structure of Teeth

Crown - exposed surface of tooth

Neck - boundary between root and crown

Enamel - outer surface (the hardest substance in the

body 95% calcium salts)
Dentin – bone-like, but noncellular(70% calcium
salts)
Pulp cavity - hollow with blood vessels and
nerves
Root canal - canal length of root
gingival sulcus - where gum and tooth meet
 pharynx

• The pharynx (or throat, which connects

the mouth with the esophagus,
 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 Normally,only the oropharynx and
laryngopharynx transmit food. The
posterior walls of the oropharynx and
laryngopharynx are formed by
pharyngeal constrictor muscles.
 Tongue
(papillae (little projections),
containing nerve endings of
the sense of taste, sometimes

called the taste buds.)
filiform papillae

 fungiform papillae

 circumvallate papillae
• Functions of the tongue
• The tongue plays an important part in:
• • mastication
• • deglutition
• • speech
• • taste
 Esophagus
 Runs from pharynx to stomach through
the diaphragm( 25 cm)
The passage of food from the laryngopharynx
into the esophagus is regulated at the entrance to
the esophagus by a sphincter (a circular band or ring of
muscle that is normally contracted) called the upper
esophageal sphincter (UES)
T he esophagus transports food from the
pharynx to the stomach. Upper and lower esophageal
sphincters regulate the movement of food into and out
of the esophagus. The lower esophageal sphincter is
sometimes called the cardiac sphincter.
• ESOPHAGEAL HIATUS
A hiatal hernia is a widening of the esophageal hiatus, the
opening in the diaphragm through which the esophagus
passes. Widening of the hiatus allows part of the stomach
to extend through the opening into the thorax.
• The stomach is a J-shaped dilated portion of
the alimentary tract situated in the epigastric,
umbilical and left hypochondriac regions of
the abdominal cavity.
 Stomach Anatomy

 Rugae – internal folds of the mucosa

 External regions
 Lesser curvature
 Greater curvature
 Stomach Anatomy
 Regions of the stomach
 Cardiac region – near the heart
 Fundus
 Body
 Phylorus – funnel-shaped terminal end
 Food empties into the small intestine at
the pyloric sphincter
Stomach
 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 transverse colon which
Contains fat to insulate, cushion, and
protect abdominal organs
Structure of the Stomach Mucosa
 Gastric pits
formed by
folded mucosa
 Glands and
specialized
cells are in the
gastric gland
region
Stomach Anatomy
Function of mouth,pharynx and oesophagus

• Formation of a bolus.
• Deglutition or swallowing
• Organs associated with the stomach
 SMALL INTESTINE
• The small intestine is continuous with the
stomach at the pyloric sphincter and leads into
the large intestine at the ileocaecal valve. It is
a little over 5 metres long and lies in the
abdominal cavity surrounded by the large
intestine.
• In the small intestine the chemical digestion of
food is completed and most of the absorption
of nutrients takes place.
 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(25cm)
 Attached to the stomach
 Curves around the head of the pancreas
 Fixed retroperitoneal structure
 Jejunum (2.5m)
 Attaches anteriorly to the duodenum
 Ileum (3.5m)
 Extends from jejunum to large intestine
Regions of Small Intestine
 Pancreas
 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 (langerhans
island)
 Insulin
 Glucagons
 Somatostatin Slide
 Pancreas

• Retroperitoneal :compose
of head, body and tail

• Endocrine and exocrine

gland

• Common bile duct and

major pancreatic duct lead
to ampulla of vater then
to second part of
duodenum through
sphincter of oddi
 Liver
On right under diaphragm,
largest organ made up of 4
lobes (left and right, e
caudat and quadrate ,

Gall bladder

Microscopic anatomy: Liver lobules

and triads
 Gallbladder
• Stores and concentrates bile to ten folds
• Expels bile into duodenum
– Bile emulsifies fats
 Processes of the Digestive System

 Mechanical digestion
 Mixing of food in the mouth by the tongue
 Churning of food in the stomach
 Segmentation in the small intestine

Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings Slide

14.43
 Processes of the Digestive System

 Mechanical digestion
 Mixing of food in the mouth by the tongue
 Churning of food in the stomach
 Segmentation in the small intestine

Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings Slide

14.43