Chapter 15: Digestion

1) Digestion means:

2) The alimentary canal is:

Structure of the alimentary canal wall (going inside to outside) -Mucous membrane: inner most layer of the canal; made of surface epithelium, underlying connective tissue, some smooth muscle; secretes mucous to protect the tissues of the organ and carries out secretion and absorption. 3) The lumen is the:

-Submucosa: mostly connective tissue with blood vessels, glands, lymphatic vessels, and a plexus of nerve tissue; nourish surrounding tissues. -Muscular layer: provides movement of the tube; two layers of smooth muscles with a nerve plexus; inner coating of muscles (circular) contracts to make the diameter of the tube smaller, outer muscular (longitudinal) coating contracts to shorten the tube. 4) Muscular movement is called _____________________ -Serosa (serous layer): made of visceral peritoneum, covers the outside of the alimentary canal; secretes tissues so organs can slide freely over each other.

Mouth -Start of mechanical and chemical digestion. 5) Breaks down food into smaller pieces with teeth, enzyme amylase in saliva strips starch and glycogen into disaccharides. The first substances digested from food are _________________________ -Oral cavity includes the lips, cheeks, tongue, palate, and teeth. Palate: roof of the mouth -Anterior portion is tissue covering palatine bone (hard palate), posterior portion is a muscular arch (soft palate) that assists in swallowing. -When you swallow the soft palate muscles draw the uvula upwards and closes the nasal cavity and the pharynx.

Teeth: -Two sets, baby teeth or primary teeth and secondary teeth. -Roots of the primary teeth reabsorbed before the secondary tooth grows in. -Incisors, canines, premolars, molars.

Salivary glands: -Secrete saliva to moisten and begin breakdown of carbohydrates in food. ** 6) Fun Fact! When you smell something pleasing, the ________________________ division of the nervous system stimulates these glands to produce saliva, and when you smell something unpleasant the same division is inhibited so less saliva is produced and swallowing becomes difficult. -Three major types of salivary glands: Parotid: largest; inferior to each ear; secrete watery fluid rich in amylase Submandibular: floor of the mouth; secrete a more viscous liquid than the parotid Sublingual: smallest; floor of the mouth inferior to the tongue; mostly mucous cells, so very thick secretions. Pharynx and Esophagus: 7) The pharynx does what?

-Three parts of the pharynx: Nasopharynx: provides a passageway for air during breathing Oropharynx: inferior to the nasopharynx; passageway for food Laryngopharynx: inferior to the oropharynx; passageway to the esophagus 8) Order the things that have to happen in order for proper swallowing to occur. ___ Hyoid bone, larynx, epiglottis elevate to close off the larynx (no food into the trachea) ___ Tongues rolls food into a bolus and pushes it to the pharynx ___ Peristaltic wave begins and forces food into the esophagus ___ Muscles pull the pharynx upwards to the food and relax the esophagus Esophagus: -Collapsible tube connecting pharynx to the stomach -Covered in mucous cells that moisten and lubricate the inner lining as well as the bolus. **9) Fun Fact! What structure involved in breathing must the esophagus penetrate in order to reach the stomach? -When the esophagus connects to the stomach, the muscles pinch together and form the lower esophageal sphincter (aka the cardiac sphincter). These muscles stay tightly closed until food in present at the end of the esophagus so partially digested food is not regurgitated. 10) What is caused when the cardiac sphincter fails?

Stomach:

-Pouch-like organ just below the diaphragm; can hold about 1 liter; receives the bolus from the esophagus, mixes it with gastric juices, and initiates more mechanical (churning) and chemical (enzyme action) digestion. -Just like the cardiac sphincter, the pyloric sphincter at the opening to the small intestine is a valve in control of emptying the stomach. -Gastric Juices: Mucous membrane of the stomach is studded with gastric pits and gastric glands. All cells in the gastric glands release hydrochloric acid (HCl). Pepsin: most important gastric juice; formed when the precursor contacts HCl; responsible for beginning the breakdown of protein into polypeptides. Mucous cells constantly secrete thin mucus to coat the lining of the stomach so the stomach doesnt dissolve and digest itself. The stomach wall is not well equipped to absorb nutrients other than water, some salts, alcohol and lipid (fat) soluble drugs. -Movement from the stomach wall and chemical breakdown of the proteins in the bolus lead to a partially fluid paste called chyme. Peristalsis pushes the chyme into the small intestine via the pyloric sphincter in small amounts at a time. 11) The time is takes for the stomach to process food depends on what it is composed of. Out of fats, carbohydrates and proteins, which type of substance stays in the stomach the longest? The shortest?

Accessory Organs:

-These organs add secretions to the stomach, but food never passes through them.

-Pancreas: Closely associated with the small intestine. Pancreatic juices digest all main types of substances: fats, carbs, proteins, and nucleic acids. -Pancreatic amylase splits starch molecules -Pancreatic lipase breaks down triglyceride molecules into fatty acids and glycerol -Nucleases break down nucleic acid 12) Trypsin, Chymotripsin, Carboxypeptidase break down proteins Why are so many enzymes needed to break down proteins?

-Liver:

Just inferior to the diaphragm on the right side of the body; separated into lobes. Hepatic lobules are the livers functional units within the lobes. Hepatic ducts carry secretions from the liver to the stomach. The liver has many functions, not all to do with digestion: metabolizes proteins, lipids, and proteins; stores nutrients; filters the blood; detoxifies the blood; secretes bile -Gallbladder: Located behind the liver; main function is to store and release bile into the duodenum. Bile is a yellow-green liquid that helps to break down lipids and fatty foods at the beginning of the small intestine. -The bile salts found in the liquid bile attack fat globulets and break them down into smaller pieces, called emulsification. Then lipases (fat-dissolving enzymes) can mix the fat with water and break them down fully. -Bile salts also assist in the absorption of fatty acids, cholesterol, and fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Small Intestine:

-Longest organ in the body: 6-7 meters long! 13) How long is that in feet? _______________ -Four main parts of the tube: Duodenum: -Attached to the stomach by the pyloric sphincter; fixed C-shape that curves around the right kidney Jejunum: -More mobile; next 2/5 of the small intestine -Very little difference from the ileum except for having a larger diameter and slightly thicker and more vascularized walls Ileum: -Mobile; last 2/5 of the small intestine Mesentery: -Folded layer of peritoneal membrane that connects the jejunum and the ileum and suspends them from the abdominal wall -Highly vascularized -Small intestinal wall: Greater surface area is the main goal for maximum absorption. 14) Multitude of finger-like projections on the inner wall of the small intestine called ___________________

These structures have special secretion cells embedded in them to completely break down all food substances. -Peptidases peptides broken down into amino acids -Sucrase, Maltase, Lactase split disaccharides into monosaccharides like glucose, fructose, and galactose -Intestinal lipase fats become fatty acids and glycerol Look at Table 15.5 for a summary of digestive juices

-Absorption: The structures give the small intestine so much surface area that almost nothing that is absorbable reaches the most proximal end of the alimentary canal. Carbohydrates: digestion begins in the mouth with amylase; enzymes from the pancreas and the small intestine complete the breakdown. Proteins: digestion begins with pepsin in the stomach; the pancreas and the small intestine complete the process. Lipids (fats): digestion doesnt begin until the pancreas secretes bile into the duodenum and the intestinal lipase finishes the process. All nutrients are carried by the blood from dense collections of capillaries or by the lymphatic system (fat specifically) near the villi to the rest of the body. Cholesterol and bile salts are also reabsorbed. Electrolytes and water are actively absorbed. Large intestine:

-Shorter than the small intestine (1.5 m) but much thicker in diameter. -Ileum of the small intestine joins with the large intestine and it loops around the right side of the body, above the stomach, and down the left side of the body. -Parts of the large intestine: Cecum: -Connects directly with the ileum. -The vermiform appendix projects off the cecum; very small with a closed end; no known digestive function in modern humans. 15) What was it used for (theoretically) in ancestor human species?

Colon: -Ascending colon: begins at the cecum, includes the first part of the large intestine that ends inferior to the liver. -Transverse colon: ascending colon turns left and crosses the midline of the body to the left side of the body; longest and most moveable part; suspended by a fold of peritoneum.

-Descending colon: transverse colon comes to the spleen and turns downwards, angling to the inside of the pelvis. -Sigmoid colon: final S-shaped part of the large intestine. Rectum: -Follows the curvature of the sacrum. -Attached to the abdominal wall by peritoneum. Anus: -Last 4 cm of the large intestine AND the alimentary canal. -Two sphincters: internal anal sphincter (smooth, involuntary muscle) and external anal sphincter (skeletal, voluntary muscle). -Absorption and Function: Little to no digestive function. Mucous cells secrete mucus to control the pH of the intestinal contents as well as to bind the waste. Absorbs most of the water and electrolytes the small intestine didnt. Whatever is left becomes part of the waste product, feces. 16) Compare and contrast the peristaltic movements in the small intestine and the large intestine.