Human Physiology   7/e   Vander/Sherman/Luciano
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Chapter 17: The Digestion and Absorption of Food


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Chapter 17: The Digestion and Absorption of Food

  1. GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM

    1. The gastrointestinal system transfers organic nutrients, minerals, and water from the external environment to the internal environment. The four processes used to accomplish this function are (a) digestion, (b) secretion, (c) absorption, and (d) motility.

      1. The system is designed to maximize the absorption of most nutrients, not to regulate the amount absorbed.
      2. The system does not play a major role in the removal of waste products from the internal environment.

  2. OVERVIEW: FUNCTIONS OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL ORGANS

    1. The names and functions of the gastrointestinal organs are summarized in Figure 17-3.
    2. Each day the gastrointestinal tract secretes about 6 times more fluid into the lumen than is ingested. Only about 1 percent of the luminal contents is excreted in the feces.

  3. STRUCTURE OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT WALL

    1. The structure of the wall of the gastrointestinal tract is summarized in Figure 17-6.

      1. The area available for absorption in the small intestine is greatly increased by the folding of the intestinal wall and the presence of villi and microvilli on the surface of the epithelial cells.
      2. The epithelial cells lining the intestinal tract are continuously replaced by new cells arising from cell division at the base of the villi.
      3. The venous blood from the small intestine, containing absorbed nutrients other than fat, passes to the liver via the hepatic portal vein before returning to the heart. Fat is absorbed into the Iymphatic vessels (lacteals) in each villus.

  4. DIGESTION AND ABSORPTION

    1. Starch is digested by amylases secreted by the salivary glands and pancreas, and the resulting products, as well as ingested disaccharides, are digested to monosaccharides by enzymes in the luminal membranes of epithelial cells in the small intestine.

      1. The monosaccharides are then absorbed by secondary active transport.
      2. Some polysaccharides, such as cellulose, cannot be digested and pass to the large intestine, where they are metabolized by bacteria.

    2. Proteins are broken down into small peptides and amino acids, which are absorbed by secondary active transport in the small intestine.

      1. The breakdown of proteins to peptides is catalyzed by pepsin in the stomach but primarily by the pancreatic enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin in the small intestine.
      2. Peptides are broken down into amino acids by pancreatic carboxypeptidase and intestinal aminopeptidase.
      3. Small peptides consisting of 2 to 3 amino acids can be actively absorbed into epithelial cells and then broken down to amino acids which are released into the blood.

    3. The digestion and absorption of fat by the small intestine requires mechanisms that solubilize the fat and its digestion products.

      1. Large fat globules leaving the stomach are emulsified in the small intestine by bile salts and phospholipids secreted by the liver.
      2. Lipase from the pancreas digests fat at the surface of the emulsion droplets, forming fatty acids and monoglycerides.
      3. These water-insoluble products of lipase action, when combined with bile salts, form micelles which are in equilibrium with the free molecules.
      4. Free fatty acids and monoglycerides diffuse across the luminal membranes of epithelial cells, within which they are enzymatically recombined to form triacylglycerol, which is released as chylomicrons from the blood side of the cell by exocytosis.
      5. The released chylomicrons enter lacteals in the intestinal villi and pass, by way of the Iymphatic system, to the venous blood returning to the heart.

    4. Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed by the same pathway used for fat absorption. Most water-soluble vitamins are absorbed in the small intestine by diffusion or mediated transport. Vitamin B is absorbed in the ileum by endocytosis after combining with intrinsic factor secreted into the lumen by parietal cells in the stomach.
    5. Water is absorbed from the small intestine by osmosis following the active absorption of solutes, primarily sodium chloride.

  5. REGULATION OF GASTROINTESTINAL PROCESSES

    1. Most gastrointestinal reflexes are initiated by luminal stimuli: (a) distension, (b) osmolarity, (c) acidity, and (d) digestion products.

      1. Neural reflexes are mediated by short reflexes in the enteric nervous system and by long reflexes involving afferent and efferent neurons to and from the CNS.
      2. Gastrin, secretin, CCK, and GIP are secreted by endocrine cells scattered throughout the epithelium of the stomach (gastrin) and small intestine (secretin, CCK, and GIP). Their properties are summarized in Table 17-3.
      3. The three phases of gastrointestinal regulation (cephalic, gastric, and intestinal) are named for the location of the stimulus that initiates the response.

    2. Chewing breaks up food into particles suitable for swallowing but is not essential for the eventual ingestion and absorption of food.
    3. Salivary secretion is stimulated by food in the mouth acting reflexly via chemoreceptors and pressure receptors. Both sympathetic and parasympathetic stimulation increase salivary secretion.
    4. Food moved into the pharynx by the tongue initiates swallowing, which is coordinated by the swallowing center in the brainstem medulla oblongata.

      1. Food is prevented from entering the trachea by inhibition of respiration and by closure of the glottis.
      2. The upper esophageal sphincter relaxes as food is moved into the esophagus and then closes.
      3. Food is moved through the esophagus toward the stomach by peristaltic waves. The lower esophageal sphincter remains open throughout swallowing.
      4. If food does not reach the stomach with the first peristaltic wave, distension of the esophagus initiates secondary peristalsis.

    5. The factors controlling acid secretion by parietal cells in the stomach are summarized in Table 17-4.
    6. Pepsinogen, secreted by the gastric chief cells in response to most of the same reflexes that control acid secretion, is converted to the active proteolytic enzyme pepsin in the stomach's lumen by acid and by activated pepsin.
    7. Peristaltic waves sweeping over the stomach become stronger in the antrum, where most mixing occurs. With each wave, only a small portion of the stomach's contents are expelled into the small intestine through the pyloric sphincter.

      1. Cycles of membrane depolarization, the basic electrical rhythm generated by gastric smooth muscle, determine gastric peristaltic wave frequency. Contraction strength can be altered by neural and hormonal changes in membrane potential which is imposed on the basic electrical rhythm.
      2. Distension of the stomach increases the force of contractions and the rate of emptying. Distension of the small intestine, and fat, acid, or hypertonic solutions in the intestinal lumen inhibit gastric contractions.

    8. The exocrine portion of the pancreas secretes digestive enzymes and bicarbonate ions, all of which reach the duodenum through the pancreatic duct.

      1. The bicarbonate ions neutralize acid entering the small intestine from the stomach.
      2. Most of the proteolytic enzymes, including trypsin, are secreted by the pancreas in inactive forms. Trypsin is activated by enterokinase located on the membranes of the small intestine cells and in turn activates other inactive enzymes.
      3. The hormone secretin, released from the small intestine in response to increased luminal acidity, stimulates pancreatic bicarbonate secretion. CCK is released from the small intestine in response to the products of fat and protein digestion, and stimulates pancreatic enzyme secretion.
      4. Parasympathetic simulation increases pancreatic secretion.

    9. The liver secretes bile, the major ingredients of which are bile salts, cholesterol, lecithin, bicarbonate ions, bile pigments, and trace metals.

      1. Bile salts undergo continuous enterohepatic recirculation during a meal. The liver synthesizes new bile salts to replace those lost in the feces.
      2. The greater the bile salt concentration in the hepatic portal blood, the greater the rate of bile secretion.
      3. Bilirubin, the major bile pigment, is a breakdown product of hemoglobin and is absorbed from the blood by the liver and secreted into the bile.
      4. Secretin stimulates bicarbonate secretion by the cells lining the bile ducts in the liver.
      5. Bile is concentrated in the gallbladder by the absorption of NaCI and water.
      6. Following a meal, the release of CCK from the small intestine causes the gallbladder to contract and the sphincter of Oddi to relax, thereby injecting concentrated bile into the intestine.

    10. In the small intestine, the digestion of polysaccharides and proteins increases the osmolarity of the luminal contents, producing water flow into the lumen.
    11. Sodium, chloride, bicarbonate, and water are secreted by the small intestine. However, most of these secreted substances, as well as those entering the small intestine from other sources, are absorbed back into the blood.
    12. Intestinal motility is coordinated by the enteric nervous system and modified by long and short reflexes and hormones.

      1. During and shortly after a meal, the intestinal contents are mixed by segmenting movements of the intestinal wall.
      2. After most of the food has been digested and absorbed, segmentation is replaced by the migrating motility complex, which moves the undigested material into the large intestine by a migrating segment of peristaltic waves.

    13. The primary function of the large intestine is to store and concentrate fecal matter before defecation.

      1. Water is absorbed from the large intestine secondary to the active absorption of sodium, leading to the concentration of fecal matter.
      2. Flatus is produced by bacterial fermentation of undigested polysaccharides.
      3. Three to four times a day, mass movements in the large intestine move its contents into the rectum.
      4. Distension of the rectum initiates defecation, which is assisted by a forced expiration against a closed glottis.
      5. Defecation can be voluntarily controlled through somatic nerves to the skeletal muscles of the external anal sphincter.

  6. PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT

    1. The factors that normally prevent breakdown of the mucosal barrier and ulcers are (1) secretion of an alkaline mucus, (2) tight junctions between epithelial cells, and (3) rapid replacement of epithelial cells.
    2. Vomiting is coordinated by the vomiting center of the medulla oblongata. Contractions of abdominal muscles force the contents of the stomach into the esophagus (retching), and if the contractions are strong enough, they force the contents of the esophagus through the upper esophageal sphincter into the mouth (vomiting).
    3. Precipitation of cholesterol, or less often, bile pigments in the gallbladder form gallstones, which can block the exit of the gallbladder or common bile duct. In the later case, the failure of bile salts to reach the intestine causes decreased digestion and absorption of fat, and the accumulation of bile pigments in the blood and tissues causes jaundice.
    4. Lactase, which is present at birth, undergoes a genetically determined decrease during childhood in many individuals. In the absence of lactase, lactose cannot be digested, and its presence in the small intestine can result in diarrhea and increased flatus production when milk is ingested.
    5. Constipation is primarily the result of decreased colonic motility. The symptoms of constipation are produced by overdistension of the rectum, not by the absorption of toxic bacterial products.
    6. Diarrhea can be caused by decreased fluid absorption, increased fluid secretion, or both.

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