DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

ARRIZ L. CABIGTING, MSA

TYPES OF ANIMAL DIGESTIVE
SYSTEM
▷ Mongastric (Pig)
▷ Avian (Poultry)
▷ Ruminants (Sheep, Goat,
Cattle, Camel, Giraffe, et.)
▷ Pseudoruminants (Rabbit-
Caecotroph, Horse)

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PROCESS OF DIGESTION
•PREHENSION
1 •(Conveying of food into the mouth)

•MASTICATION
2 •(Chewing)

•INSALIVATION
3 •(mixing of feed with saliva)

•DIGESTION
4 •(Mechanical and chemical breakdown of feed)

•ABROPTION
5 •Transfer of substance from gastro-intestinal tract (G T) to the circulatory
 PREHENSION
 Cattle – Tongue and lower incisors
 Horses and sheep – Lips and teeth
 Poultry – Beak , bill
 Pig – Upper lip (snout)
 Teeth: Pigs and horses have complete
set of molars and incisors
 Ruminants have only a dental pad
instead of upper incisors (no canine
teeth)
 MASTICATION
 Chewing - The mechanical breakdown
of feed into finer particles
 it allows feed to be well mixed with
the saliva to facilitate swallowing
 In ruminants, most of the mastication
of coarser feed particles occurs during
the process of rumination, or re-
chewing.
 INSALIVATION
 The mixing of feed with saliva (Cattle
produces 54-55kg of saliva/day)
 its alkalinity buffers the pH in the
rumen.
 Adds small amounts of amylase
 Greatest during feeding, mastication,
or re- mastication in ruminants. Saliva
lubricates the feed bolus
DIGESTION
 The mechanical breakdown of
feed and the consequent
chemical changes brought
about by digestive juices,
bacteria and protozoa
 Breakdown of feed
particles into suitable
products for absorption
DIGESTIVE ENZYMES
▷ Enzymes- A complex protein produced in living cells that causes
changes in other substances within the body without being changes
itself (organic catalyst)
▷ Saliva : Salivary amylase - starch to maltose; (in swine out limited in
cattle and sheep) begins the initial digestion of sugars and starch
▷ Rumen Microbial Enzymes:
○ Microbial cellulose - cellulose to volatile fatty acids
○ Microbial Amylase - starch to volatile fatty acids and lactic acid
○ Microbial Proteases - protein to amino acids and NH3
○ Microbial urease - urea to C02 and NH3
DIGESTIVE ENZYMES
 Stomach, Abomasum, and Proventricululus:
Pepsin polypeptides
 Enzymes produced by pancreas are secreted into the
duodenum :
o Trypsin, Chymotrypsin, and Carboxypeptidase -
protein to peptides and amino acids
ABSORPTION
 Transfer of substance from gastro-intestinal tract (G T) to the circulatory
(blood, or lymph) system;
 Breaking down of nutrients in to a very small molecules, to their basic units,
with the action of enzymes. Transfer of small molecules through membranes
of the gastro-intestinal tract (GI tract via the villi) into blood
ANATOMY AND PHYSIO
LOGY OF THE DIGESTI
VE SYSTEM
 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
1. Mouth and Buccal Cavity - for prehension,
mastication, and insalivation
▷ Three Accessory Organs
○ Tongue - grasping food
○ Teeth - mastication of food
○ Salivary glands – produced saliva which
contains water and bicarbonate salts
■ moisten food;
■ lubricate food for easy swallowing;
■ regulate pH;
■ salivary amylase to start
carbohydrate digestion
 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
2. Pharynx - common passage for air and feed
3. Esophagus - a muscular tube which connects the
stomach to the mouth; allows passage of food from
mouth to stomach
4. Stomach - a muscular organ which is the site
for feed storage, grinding and mixing of feed,
absorption, enzymatic action and microbial
fermentation
○ major functions: storage of ingested feed,
mechanical breakdown, and production of
HCL, enzymes and mucus
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
5. Small intestine - has 3 divisions
a) Duodenum – an active site of
digestion that receives secretions
from the pancreas, liver and
intestinal walls.
b) Jejunum – middle section that is
involved in nutrient absorption.
c) Ileum - last section, also
involved in nutrient absorption.
 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
6. Large intestine - also has 3 sections
(Ileum to the anus)
o Cecum - first section which is relatively large
in the horse and rabbit; well developed in
horse, contains many bacteria which produced
enzymes that digest fiber
o Colon - middle section which is involved in
reabsorption of water; length is related to
amount of water reabsorption of water
o Rectum – terminal part of the intestine. Organ
of storage
7. Anus – terminal part of the alimentary
system
 Accessory Glands
1. Pancreas – secretes sodium bicarbonate and
digestive enzymes
2. Liver – largest organ of the body
a) Storage and formation of glycogen
(animal starch)
b) Secretion of bile
c) Detoxification of poisons
d) Breakdown of uric acid
e) Desaturation of fatty acid
3. Gall bladder – storage site of bile, absent in
horse, deer, elk, elephant, camel and rat
4. Salivary gland
 Avian Digestive System
1. Beak – projecting mouthpart of the bird
(prehensile organ)
2. Esophagus - includes an enlarged area
called the crop as a temporary storage and
moistening of food, as a place for salivary
amylase to work, and as microbial
fermentation in some species
 Avian Digestive System
3. Proventriculus - corresponds to the true
stomach; the site of HCI and pepsin production in
the bird
4. Gizzard / Ventriculus - a muscular area which
contains grit; the involuntary muscular
contraction aid in the mechanical breakdown of
food
Digestive pathway = Mouth/Beak - Esophagus -
Crop - Proventriculus (stomach) - Gizzard -
Small intestine - Large intestine, (and ceca) -
Cloaca - Vent
 Ruminant Digestive System
(Compound Stomach)
 Rumination - the process which permits an
animal to eat forage and ingest feed rapidly,
then complete chewing at a later time; feed
in the stomach is regurgitated, remasticated,
reinsalivated, and reswallowed
 Bolus formation - the formation of "balls"
of feed out of masticated feed particles
 Eructation - (belching of gas) allows for
removal of large volumes of gas produced in
the rumen
 The Four Compartments of a
Compound Stomach)
1. RUMEN (Paunch)
○ The main site of microbial fermentation
of feeds (largest of the four
compartments)
○ located predominantly on the left side
(*bloating)
○ It can hold up to 25 gallons or about 200
liters or as much as 140 kg of material
○ Muscular walls are covered by
projections called papillae which are
required for absorption of nutrients
○ Rumen organisms can produces Vitamin
K and the B-Vitamins
The Four Compartments of a
Compound Stomach)
2. RETICULUM (Honeycomb)
o It is the most anterior and
smallest section of the
compound stomach
o It receives heavy matter in
food and acts as a liquid
reservoir to soften these
materials
o Hardware disease
 The Four Compartments of a
Compound Stomach)
3. OMASUM (Manyplies)
o A spherical organ filled with muscular laminae
o Further grinds and reduces the feed into finer
particles before the feed enters the abomasum
IV. ABOMASUM (True Stomach) – it secretes enzyme
and hydrochloric acid
*** Esophageal groove - begins at the base of the
esophagus and when stimulated by sucking forms a tube
which empties into the abomasum. Directs milk obtained
from sucking to escape microbial digestions in the rumen
The Digestive Pathway in
Ruminants
1. Mouth
2. Esophagus
3. Reticulo- rumen –
(regurgitation, rechewing, reinsalivation, and
reswallowing)
4. Reticulo -rumen
5. Omasum
6. Abomasum
7. Small intestine
8. Large intestine and cecum
9. Rectum - anus
ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION
▷ Hormone - a substance or
chemical mediator produced by
the endocrine glands and
secreted into the bloodstream to
some distant part of the body
with the target cells where it
exerts its effect
 Hormone Producing Glands
1. Pituitary gland
o Anterior lobe – a) growth
hormone (STH), b)gonadotrophic
hormone like Follicle Stimulating
Hormone (FSH), Luteinizing
Hormone c) (LH) Thyroid
Hormone, d) Adrenocorticotrophic
Hormone (ACTH)
o Posterior Lobe – Oxytocin ,
vasopressi
o Intermediate lobe- melanophore
hormones
 Hormone Producing Glands
1. Pituitary gland (Anterior Lobe)
a. Growth Hormone/SomatotrophicHormone(STH)
▷ Target Organ : Bone and Muscle Cells
▷ Functions: Promotes growth of the long bones,
stimulates body growth through protein synthesis,
stimulates lipolysis, inhibits the action of insulin on
carbohydrates, and lipid metabolism
▷ Over secretion of STH in man:
○ Gigantism - before adulthood
○ Acromegaly - after adulthood
Deficiency:
○ Dwarfism
Hormone Producing Glands
1. Pituitary gland (Anterior Lobe)
b. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
 Target Organ : Adrenal gland
 Functions:
o Stimulates the adrena (corfex to produce
glucocorticoids such as cortisol, cortisone
and corticosterone
o Maintains size of zacia fasciulata cind zona
reticularis of the cortex
Hormone Producing Glands
1. Pituitary gland (Anterior Lobe)
d. Thyroid Stimulating hormone (TSH)
 Target Organ : Thyroid Gland
 Functions: Stimulates production of thyroid hormones
T3 and T4

e. Follicle Stimulating hormone (FSH)

 Target Organ : Ovarian follicle; Seminiferous Tubules
 Functions:
o In females it stimulates development and
maturation of follicles
○ In males it stimulates spermatogenesis
Hormone Producing Glands
1. Pituitary gland (Anterior Lobe)
g. Luteinizing hormone (LH)
 Target Organ : Ovarian Follicle,
Leydig cells
 Functions: In females it is for
ovulation. In males, it stimulates
testosterone synthesis
h. Prolactin or Luteotropic hormone (LTH)
 Target Organ : Mammary gland
 Functions: It stimulates production
and maintains milk secretion in
mammary glands
 Hormone Producing Glands
1. Pituitary gland (Intermediate Lobe)
a. Melanin (STH) Melanocyte
Stimulating hormone (MSH)
 Target Organ : Skin
(Melanocytes)
 Functions: Skin
pigmentation
Hormone Producing Glands
1. Pituitary gland (Prosterior Lobe)
a. Oxytocin
 Target Organ : Mammary gland and Uterus
 Functions: Stimulates milk ejection in lactating females
 Contraction of the uterus at parturition for fetal
expulsion (uterine contraction)
b. Vassopression or Anti-Diuretic Hormone (ADH)
 Target Organ : Kidney
 Functions: Maintenance of body water through
reabsorption
 Hormone Producing Glands
3. Parathyroid gland – located near the
Thyroid gland
○ Produces Parathyroid Hormone (PTH)
which increases the level of calcium
○ Enhances Ca and P absorption from the
intestinal tract
(urinary phosphate excretion)

4. Adrenal gland – cortisol (stress hormone),

adrenalin (Epinephrine)
Hormone Producing Glands
5. Pancreas - Located at the duodenal loop of
the small intestine. Secretes insulin (Islet of
Langerhans)and glucagon which stimulates
glycogenolysis.
▷ Excess insulin: can cause hypoglycemia
▷ Lack of insulin: can cause diabetes mellitus
▷ Excess glucagon: worsens diabetes
▷ Lack of glucagon: can cause hypoglycemia
Hormone Producing Glands/Organs
6. Testicles - Testosterone
7. Ovaries - estrogen, relaxin
for the relaxation of the cervix
during parturition
8. Corpus luteum -
progesterone
▷ THANKS!

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