The Digestive Tract

 Alimentary Canal
(gastrointestinal tract)
The muscular alimentary canal
 Mouth
 Pharynx
 Esophagus
 Stomach
 Small intestine
 Large intestine
 Anus

 The accessory
digestive organs
Supply secretions contributing
to the breakdown of food
 Teeth & tongue
 Salivary glands
 Gallbladder
 Liver
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 Pancreas
 The Digestive Process
 Ingestion
 Taking in food through the mouth
 Propulsion (movement of food)
 Swallowing
 Peristalsis – propulsion by alternate
contraction &relaxation
 Mechanical digestion
 Chewing
 Churning in stomach
 Mixing by segmentation
 Chemical digestion
 By secreted enzymes: see later
 Absorption
 Transport of digested end products into
blood and lymph in wall of canal
 Defecation
 Elimination of indigestible substances from
body as feces 3
 Chemical digestion
 Complex food molecules (carbohydrates,
proteins and lipids) broken down into
chemical building blocks (simple sugars,
amino acids, and fatty acids and glycerol)
 Carried out by enzymes secreted by digestive
glands into lumen of the alimentary canal

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 Teeth
 Called “dentition” (like dentist)

 Teeth live in sockets (alveoli) in the gum-

covered margins of the mandible and
maxilla

 Chewing: raising and lowering the

mandible and moving it from side to side
while tongue positions food between teeth
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 Teeth
 Two sets
 Primary or deciduous
 “Baby” teeth
 Start at 6 months
 20 are out by about 2 years
 Fall out between 2-6 years
 Permanent: 32 total
 All but 3rd set of molars by
end of adolescence
 3rd set = “wisdom teeth”
– Variable
 Some can be “impacted”
(imbedded in bone) 6
Teeth are classified according to
shape and function
 Incisors: chisel-shaped for
chopping off pieces
incisor  Canines: cone shaped to
tear and pierce
canine
 Premolars (bicuspids) and
premolar
 Molars - broad crowns
with 4-5 rounded cusps for
molar grinding
Cusps are surface bumps 7
 Tooth structure
 Two main regions
A. Crown (exposed)
B. Root (in socket) A

C. Meet at neck
 Enamel C
 99% calcium crystals
 Hardest substance in
body B
 Dentin – bulk of the
tooth (bone-like but
harder than bone, with
collagen and mineral)
 Pulp cavity with vessels
and nerves
 Root canal: the part of the
pulp in the root 8
 Tooth structure
 Cementum – bone
layer of tooth root A

 Attaches tooth to
periodontal ligament C
 Periodontal ligament
 Anchors tooth in boney
socket of the jaw B

 Continuous with gingiva

(gums)
 Cavities or caries - rot
 Plaque – film of sugar,
bacteria and debris
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 Esophagus
 Continuation of pharynx in
mid neck
 Muscular tube collapsed
when lumen empty Esophagus___________
 Descends through thorax
 On anterior surface of
vertebral column
 Behind (posterior to) trachea

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 Esophagus continued
 Passes through “esophageal hiatus” in the diaphragm to
enter the abdomen
 Abdominal part only 2 cm long
 Joins stomach at cardiac orifice*
 Cardiac sphincter at cardiac orifice to prevent regurgitation (food
coming back up into esophagus)

___________________esophageal hiatus
(hiatus means opening)

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 Microscopic anatomy of esophagus

Contains all 4
layers (see right)

 Epithelium: nonkeratinized stratified squamous epithelium

 At GE junction – thin simple columnar epithelium
 Mucus glands in wall
 Muscle (muscularis externa) changes as it goes down
 Superior 1/3 of esophagus: skeletal muscle (like pharynx)
 Middle 1/3 mixture of skeletal and smooth muscle
 Inferior 1/3 smooth muscle (as in stomach and intestines)
 When empty, mucosa and submucosa lie in longitudinal folds 12
Esophagus histology

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 Stomach
 J-shaped; widest part of alimentary canal
 Temporary storage and mixing – 4 hours
 Into “chyme”
 Starts food breakdown
 Pepsin (protein-digesting enzyme needing acid
environment)
 HCl (hydrochloric acid) helps kill bacteria
 Stomach tolerates high acid content but esophagus
doesn’t – why it hurts so much when stomach contents
refluxes into esophagus (heartburn; GERD)
 Most nutrients wait until get to small intestine to
be absorbed; exceptions are:
 Water, electrolytes, some drugs like aspirin and
alcohol (absorbed through stomach)
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 Stomach
 Lies mostly in LUQ epigastrium

 But pain can be epigastric or

lower
 Just inferior to (below)
diaphragm
 Anterior (in front of) spleen
and pancreas
 Tucked under left lower dome
margin of liver
 Anchored at both ends but junction with
esophagus
mobile in between
 Main regions in drawing to contains pyloric
sphincter
right--------------------------------
 Capacity: 1.5 L food; max
capacity 4L (1 gallon) funnel shaped
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16
 Histology of
stomach
 Simple columnar
epithelium: secrete
bicarbonate-buffered
mucus
 Gastric pits opening
into gastric glands
 Mucus neck cells
 Parietal cells
 HCL
 Intrinsic factor (for
B12 absorption)
 Chief cells
 Pepsinogen
(activated to pepsin
with HCL)
 Stimulated by gastrin:
a stomach hormone

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 Small intestine
 Longest part of alimentary canal (2.7-5 m)
 Most enzymatic digestion occurs here
 Most enzymes secreted by pancreas, not
small intestine
 Almost all absorption of nutrients
 3-6 hour process
 Runs from pyloric sphincter
to RLQ
Small intestine___________

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 Small intestine has 3 subdivisions
Blood supply: superior
 Duodenum – 5% of length
mesenteric artery;
 Jejunum – almost 40% Veins drain into hepatic
 Ileum – almost 60% portal vein

Duodenum receives
bile from liver and gallbladder via bile duct*
enzymes from pancreas via main pancreatic duct*

* 19
  Small intestine designed for absorption
 Huge surface area because of great length
 Structural modifications also increase absorptive area
 Circular folds (plicae circulares)
 Villi (fingerlike projections) 1 mm high – simple columnar epithelium: velvety
 Microvilli

Absorptivie cell
with microvilli to
increase surface
area & many
mitochondria:
nutrient uptake is
energy-
demanding
*

Lacteal*: network of blood

and lymph capillaries
-Carbs and proteins into blood to
liver via hepatic portal vein
-Fat into lymph: fat-soluble toxins
e.g. pesticides circulate
systemically before going to liver 20
for detoxification
  Intestinal crypts * (of Lieberkuhn) in between villi
 Cells here divide every 3-6 days to renew epithelium (most rapidly dividing cells of the
body)
 Secrete watery intestinal juice which mixes with chyme (the paste that food becomes
after stomach churns it)
 Intestinal flora – the permanent normal bacteria
 Manufacture some vitamins, e.g. K, which get absorbed

-have many
mitochondria:
Duodenal glands * *
nutrient uptake
is energy-
•Mucus to counteract acidity demanding
from stomach
•Hormones: * -produce
Cholecystokinin (stimulates GB mucus
to release stored bile, also pancreas)
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Secretin (stimulates pancreatic
ducts to release acid neutralizer)
General histology of digestive tract

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23
 Large intestine
Digested residue reaches it
Main function: to absorb water
and electrolytes

Subdivisions
Cecum
Appendix
Colon
Rectum
Anal canal

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 Defecation
1. Triggered by stretching of
wall, mediated by spinal
cord parasympathetic reflex
2. Stimulates contraction of
smooth muscle in wall and
relaxation of internal anal
sphincter
3. If convenient to defecate
voluntary motor neurons
stimulate relaxation of
external anal sphincter
(aided by diaphragm and
abdominal wall muscles
-called Valsalva maneuver)

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 The Liver
 Largest gland in the body
(about 3 pounds)
 Over 500 functions
 Inferior to diaphragm in
RUQ and epigastric area
protected by ribs
 R and L lobes
 Plus 2 smaller lobes
 Falciform ligament
 Mesentery binding liver to
anterior abdominal wall
 2 surfaces
 Diaphragmatic
 Visceral
 Covered by peritoneum
 Except “bare area” fused to 26
diaphragm
 posterior

Fissure on visceral surface

Porta hepatis: major vessels and nerves anterior

enter and leave - see pics

Ligamentum teres: remnant of
umbilical vein in fetus, attaches to navel
– see next slide 27
 Just some of the liver’s functions

 Produces bile
 Picks up glucose from blood
 Stores glucose as glycogen
 Processes fats and amino acids
 Stores some vitamins
 Detoxifies poisons and drugs
 Makes the blood proteins

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 Gallbladder*
 Bile is produced in the liver
 Bile is stored in the gallbladder
 Bile is excreted into the
duodenum when needed (fatty
meal)
 Bile helps dissolve fat and
cholesterol
 If bile salts crystallize, gall
stones are formed
 Intermittent pain: ball valve
effect causing intermittent
obstruction
 Or infection and a lot of pain,
fever, vomiting, etc.

* 29
Lies in LUQ kind of behind stomach
Is retroperitoneal Pancreas
Has a head, body and tail
Head is in C-shaped curve of duodenum (exocrine and
Tail extends left to touch spleen
Main pancreatic duct runs the length of the endocrine)
pancreas, joins bile duct

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 Pancreatic endocrine function
(hormones released into blood)

 Islets of Langerhans (AKA “islet cells”)

are the hormone secreting cells
 Insulin (from beta cells)
 Lowers blood glucose (sugar)
 Glucagon (from from alpha cells)
 Raises blood glucose (sugar)

(more later)
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Endocrine cells:

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