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Exercise 7
THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
The digestive system consists of a long, tortuous tube that begins at the lips and ends at the
anus. During ontogeny, the digestive system initially develops as a closed, endodermal-lined
mesenchymal tube, which secondarily gains communication with the external (ectodermal) surface of
the embryo by the rupture of the oral and anal membranes. Thus, in the adult, the digestive system is
continuous with the external surface of the body only at the oral and anal openings.
The digestive system is a continuous series of organs that are involved in the intake and
propulsion of food, its mechanical and chemical breakdown (digestion), the absorption of a portion of
the digested substances, and the elimination of undigested material from the body. It may be
subdivided into: (1) the oral cavity; (2) the pharynx; (3) the alimentary tract or canal and (4) the anal
canal. In addition to this elongate tubular portion of the digestive system, there are both intrinsic and
extrinsic glands derived from the primitive tubular gut; these glands may elaborate digestive enzymes
or mucus to facilitate the digestion and transport of foodstuffs. The intrinsic glands lie within the
mucosa or submucosa of their organ of origin, and will be discussed with each of these organs. The
extrinsic glands communicate with their organ of origin by means of excretory ducts. A useful concept
in the study of extrinsic glands is that the site of termination of their excretory ducts denotes their
embryological origin. Thus, the opening of the common bile duct into the duodenum is a reminder that
both the liver and the pancreas develop as outgrowths from the foregut (duodenum). The extrinsic
digestive glands are: (1) the major salivary glands - the parotid, sublingual and submandibular
(submaxillary) glands; (2) the pancreas; and (3) the liver. These are the subject of the next laboratory.
The following is the general structural plan that is characteristic for most of the digestive
system. Typically, there are 4 concentric coats; proceeding outward from the lumen, these are: (1) the
mucosa (mucous membrane); (2) the submucosa; (3) the muscularis (muscularis externa); and (4) the
adventitia or serosa.
1. The mucosa has three components: (a) the epithelium and its underlying basement
membrane; (b) a thin underlying layer of loose, cellular connective tissue, the lamina propria; and (c) a
relatively thin layer of smooth muscle, the muscularis mucosae. The latter may consist of both circular
and longitudinally arranged layers.
2. The submucosa is composed of a layer of dense, irregularly arranged connective tissue that
contains nervous tissue (the submucosal plexus of Meissner), as well as blood vessels.
3. The muscularis externa consists of at least 2 layers of smooth muscle; an inner circular and
outer longitudinal layer. Connective tissue, separating the muscle layers, contains nerves (myenteric
plexus of Auerbach) and blood vessels.
4. The outermost layer or adventitia consists of a thin layer of loose connective tissue; where the
digestive system is covered by peritoneum the adventitial layer is called the serosa.
buds are located below the level of the epithelium, and they communicate with the outside via a so-
called taste pore, a break in the epithelium.
The fungiform papillae, as the name implies, are mushroom shaped structures. They rise above
the general level of the filiform papillae, and they usually have taste buds. Fungiform papillae are far
less numerous than the filiform type, and scattered in among them. They're not nearly as large as the
vallate papillae, but they are large enough to have a core of CT. The fungiform papillae stick up above
the surrounding filiforms, and here you can see the relationship pretty well. A swallow-tailed filiform
papilla flanks this fungiform one on either side.
The foliate papilla is best seen in rabbits. The term means "leaflike" as in the leaves of a book.
They are set in the sides of the tongue. The papillae themselves are flat-topped and have deep clefts
between them. The clefts are lined with epithelium, and there are taste buds embedded in them.
1. The Esophagus
The esophagus is a distensible cranial portion of the tract, formed as a simple tube. At the top it
receives a food bolus from the pharynx, and at the bottom it discharges it into the first portion of the
stomach. Diagnostic features of the esophagus are the combination of stratified squamous surface
epithelium, the considerable thickness of the muscularis mucosae (up to 0.2 - 0.4 mm thick). In the
upper third the muscularis externa contains largely skeletal muscle, in the middle third, a mixture
of skeletal and smooth, and in the lower third, only smooth muscle.
pharynx, the mucosal surface of the esophagus is lined by stratified squamous epithelium that is
nonkeratinized in man. In herbivores, the esophagus has a keratinized epithelium.In most sections, the
lamina propria and the muscularis mucosa are poorly developed at this level. But note the distinct
muscularis mucosa (smooth muscle cut mostly transversely). It separates a delicate lamina propria
from the more robust submucosa.
The submucosa is well developed. Mucous type glands may be found in the submucosa of the
human esophagus. These are referred to as esophageal glands proper, a term that implies they're a
specific part of this organ, and are distinct from glands in the mucosal layer.
In the upper portion of the esophagus in most, if not all, mammals, the muscularis externa is
composed of skeletal muscle arranged in two layers (ill-defined): inner circular and outer
longitudinal. In the middle third section of the esophagus, however, a mix of skeletal and smooth
muscle constitute the muscularis externa.The well-developed muscularis externa and the stratified
squamous epithelial lining are well adapted for the rapid transport of food from the pharynx to the
stomach.
Identify the outermost layer of the esophagus in this section, the adventitia.
If you were somehow able to stand inside the stomach and look at it en face, you'd see deep
depressions in the "floor" representing gastric pits or foveolae, also lined with simple columnar
epithelium. Small openings into the underlying regions of the mucosal tunic are found at the bottom of
these pits. If you took out your Swiss Army Knife and started excavations into the lamina propria and
the regions beneath the pits, you'd find the actual secretory structures, the various types of gastric
mucosal glands. Identify gastric pits and gastric glands. The parts of gastric glands are the isthmus,
neck and base. Note the lamina propria , the loose, cellular areolar connective tissue surrounding the
gastric pits. Identify the muscularis mucosae, which forms a boundary between the mucosa and
submucosa, and the blood vessels in the submucosa.
The muscularis of the stomach is usually described as being three-layered: inner oblique,
middle circular, outer longitudinal.
Identify the outermost layer delimiting the stomach, the serosa.
Question: (a) What is the secretion of each of these cell types: parietal cell, surface mucuos cells, and
chief cells?; (b) Which of these three muscle layers hypertrophies to form the pyloric sphincter?
3. Intestine
The intestines are the parts of the digestive system responsible for the absorption of nutrients
and water. Two anatomic regions exist, the small intestine and the large intestine. Both of these are
further subdivided into anatomically discernible subdivisions. The small intestine has three parts: the
duodenum, the jejunum, and the ileum; the large intestine is subdivided into the colon, cecum, rectum,
and is continuous with the anus, the last portion of the alimentary canal.
villi. It's believed these strands cause the villi to contract, expelling the contents of the crypts and the
intervillous spaces. The muscularis mucosae is the outermost and last layer of the tunica mucosa of the
intestine. Identify and also note the presence of diffuse lymphatic tissue in the mucosa (GALT). (In the
ileum there are accumulations of lymph nodules called Peyer's patches). Locate also the intestinal
glands called crypts of Lieberkühn. Note that they are confined to the lamina propria.
The duodenum is also characterized by the presence of mucus-secreting duodenal glands (of
Brunner) in its submucosa. The submucusa is visible outside the muscularis mucosae and has the
presence of the submucosal glands or "Brunner's glands" for its "landmark." Only in the esophagus and
in the duodenum are glands found in the submucosa, so the presence of these profiles definitively
identifies this region for the histologist. The submucosal glands make an alkaline material that acts to
neutralize the acidic chyme entering the duodenum through the pylorus. If this were not done the
epithelium would soon be eroded by the chyme and an ulceration would result. Present also in the
submucosa are localized collections of neuron cell bodies, elements of the submucosal plexus
discovered by Georg Meissner (1829-1905), a German histologist.
The two layers of the muscularis externa are present and outside these is the adventitia and
serosa. Between the two layers of the muscularis externa, identify elements of the myenteric plexus,
whose function is to coordinate their peristaltic contraction.
large intestine.
and texture. These areas are likely to represent the islands of Langerhans.