Lecture 05: Chapter 3 - Digestion, Absorption, and Transport (continued)

ABSORPTION: the passage of nutrients from the GI tract into either the blood or the
lymph
o Absorption of the products of digestion
o Absorption of the breakdown products of energy yielding nutrients = small intestine
o Vitamins and minerals large intestine
One meal: Within 3-4 hours, on the order of 4 x 1023 molecules are absorbed, half of which
come from carbohydrate digestion and the remainder from protein and lipid digestion + many
vitamin and mineral molecules.
10-foot length of small intestine has a surface area equal to about 1,000 square yards (the
surface area of a tennis court). Nutrients absorbed across this surface are swept away in the
bloodstream, and carried to the liver and other parts of the body.
Anatomy of the Absorptive System: Figure 3-10
o Inner surface of the small intestine is highly folded and contoured into thousands of
fingerlike projections called villi (singular = villus).
o A single villus is composed of hundreds of cells, each of which is covered with tiny
hairlike projections called microvilli. (microvilli really where all the digestion takes
place)
o In the crevices between the villi lie crypts: tubular glands that secrete enzyme-rich
intestinal juices into the small intestine.
o Each villus is lined with a thin sheet of muscle that keeps it in constant motion,
waving like the tentacles of a sea anemone, so that the villus can trap nutrient
particles. Its many microvilli then can absorb digested nutrients from the particle, as
further enzymatic digestion of the particle continues.
Nutrient Absorption: Figure 3-9.
o How do materials move across cells?
o Cell structure and cell membranes
o The membranes surrounding the cells of the microvilli possess a variety of enzymes,
"pumps", and carriers that are specialized for recognizing the different kinds of
nutrients and transporting them into the interior of the cell.
Ex: theyll recognize glucose, or a particular vitamin
o Nutrients enter the cells either passively (by simple diffusion),
Structure of a typical plasma membrane, the membrane that surrounds every
cell. It consists of a phospholipid bilayer in which proteins are embedded.
o Or, they are taken up by pumps and carriers that operate by either facilitated
diffusion,
o Or, they are taken up by the pumps and carriers, which require energy = active
transport
Active transport requires metabolic energy, but facilitated or simple diffusion
does not.
Significance of Active Transport
o Active transport processes can transport nutrients from a region of low concentration
(the GI tract) to a region of high concentration (the inside of the cell); that is, active
transport can transport nutrients against a concentration gradient.
If you want to go from lower to higher, you need energy
 o Nutrients that are very useful to the body will be absorbed, even if the concentration
of such a nutrient is greater inside the cell that it is entering than outside the cell
o B/c of this, cells can accumulate and store the substances they need and thereby gain
independence from simple or facilitated diffusion as the only means of acquisition
o If cells could only acquire substances by simple/facilitated diffusion, they could only
get nutrients as long as concentration was greater outside cell than inside
o Independence comes at cost: costs energy
Fluid Transport Systems:
At a higher level in the organization of nutrient transport, the body has two transport
systems, the vascular system (the blood circulatory system) and the lymphatic system.
o Water-soluble nutrients (principally the products of carbohydrate and protein
digestion) enter the blood.
o Fat-soluble nutrients (principally the products of lipid digestion) are clustered
together and then coated with a special set of proteins to form structures known as
chylomicrons, which are released into and transported by the lymphatic system.
The Circulatory Systems
The Vascular System: Figure 3-11
o Blood flows in a figure-eight pattern, with the heart serving as the cross-over point:
Blood from the veins enters the right side of the heart via the right atrium.
o From there, it moves into the right ventricle (also on the right side of the heart),
which pumps it into the pulmonary artery, the artery leading to the lungs.
o The blood picks up oxygen in the lungs and is returned via the pulmonary vein to
the left side of the heart, where it enters the left atrium. The left ventricle then
pumps the oxygenated blood into the largest artery in the body, the aorta.
o The aorta branches to form arteries that distribute the blood to all parts of the body.
o The arteries branch into ever-smaller vessels, culminating in capillaries which are in
intimate contact with every cell for easy oxygen transfer.
o As the capillaries emerge from tissues and organs, they coalesce into ever-larger
vessels, the veins, which collect the blood for return to the lungs via the heart for re-
oxygenation. The blood in the veins carries carbon dioxide from the cells for release
into the lungs and exhalation.
Important aspects in terms of nutrient transport:
o The veins leaving the digestive tract merge to form the portal vein, the vein that
delivers absorbed nutrients from the digestive tract to the liver.
o After passing through the liver, this blood enters the hepatic vein, which joins with
the inferior vena cava, the principal vein leading back to the heart from the trunk
and legs.
The Lymphatic System:
o The lymphatic system is a one-way system of transfer of fluid from tissue spaces into
the bloodstream.
o Lymph is a fluid that resembles blood but lacks cells found in blood (like red blood
cells). Lymph bathes the cells of the body and is collected into tiny vessels that merge
into ever-larger vessels to form a single large vessel that drains into the vena cava,
near the heart.
o The lymphatic system has no pump.
o Lipid materials from the GI tract enter the lymphatic system and are transferred to the
 bloodstream, but significantly, these nutrients enter the circulation in a way that
initially bypasses the liver.
The Liver: Figure 3-12 illustrates the circulation of blood from the GI tract to the liver and
then on into the hepatic vein.
o The blood circulates from the GI tract to the liver and then on into the hepatic vein.
Note that any substance absorbed from the intestinal tract that enters the blood
stream goes the liver. Liver serves as a gatekeeper
The Health and Regulation of the GI tract
o Gastrointestinal bacteria
o Gastrointestinal hormones
Regulation of Digestion and Absorption
o Gastrointestinal bacteria
10 trillion bacteria reside in human digestive tract
>400 species, but 30-40 species is 99% of total bacteria
Most are beneficial to our health. Useful functions include fermenting unused
food molecules, training our immune systems, preventing growth of harmful,
pathogenic bacteria, and producing vitamins for the host (such as vitamin K
and biotin)
o Gastrointesinal hormones and nerve pathways: Digestion and absorption are
coordinated in every detail to manage the ever-changing conditions to the maximal
benefit of the body.
The principle of homeostasis:
o Homeostasis the maintenance of constant internal conditions (such as blood
pressure, blood chemistry, and temperature) by the body's control systems.
o Two intricate systems coordinate all the digestive and absorptive processes: the
hormonal (or endocrine) system and the nervous system.
Gastrointestinal Hormones and Nerve Pathways
o Hormone a chemical messenger secreted by a gland into the bloodstream for
delivery to a specific target tissue or organ, where it elicits a specific response.
o Typically, hormones act via feedback mechanisms:
Some condition requires a response by the body, as in high glucose levels in
the blood. (insulin)
The condition triggers the release of the appropriate hormone from an
endocrine gland, as in blood glucose stimulates insulin secretion from the
pancreas.
The hormone acts to correct the condition that triggered hormone release, as
in insulin stimulation of glucose uptake by cells.
Hormones of interest in digestion and absorption (Table 3-1)
o Gastrin stimulates the stomach to secrete HCl
Is released from stomach walls in response to food entering the stomach.
Once acid levels reach certain amts, secretion stops
o Secretin stimulates the release of bicarbonate-rish fluids from the pancreas. The
presence of chime in the duodenum stimulates cells in the wall of the duodenum to
release secretin into the bloodstream, where it travels to pancreas, triggering release
of pancreatic flud. When chime reaches something, secretion of fluids stops
o Cholecystokinin (CCK) is released into bloodstream from cells in the intestinal wall
 when fat is present in the intestine. CCK travels via bloodstream to the gallbladder,
where it stimulates contraction of the gallbladder, causing bile to be squirted into the
small intestine for fat emulficication. Once fat is emulsified, CCK stops
Also acts to slow down intestinal motility. Does this by slowing the rate of muscular
contractions in the small intestine.