Anatomy and

Physiology of
the Digestive
System
Malen M. Gellido, M.D.
LPU – St. Cabrini School of Health Sciences
AY 2021 -2022
 01 02 03
Learning Identify the
structures of the
Explain the
physiology of
Explain the
pathophysiology
Outcomes digestive system the digestive of the system
system
Topics
• Activities in Digestive system
• Tunics or layers of the Digestive Tract
• Organs and Functions of the Digestive System
• Movements and secretions in the Digestive
System
• Metabolism
Anatomic
Concept Map
Physiologic
Concept Map
The Digestive
System
• The function of the digestive system
is to break down food (complex
carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) via
hydrolysis into simpler substances or
molecules, called nutrients, that can
be used by the body’s cells
Activities of the Digestive System

1. Ingestion or the taking of food into the body

2. Peristalsis or the physical movement or pushing of food along the
digestive tract
3. Digestion or the breakdown of food by both mechanical and chemical
mechanisms
4. Absorption or the passage of digested food from the digestive tract into
the cardiovascular and lymphatic systems for distribution to the body’s
cells
5. Defecation or the elimination from the body of those substances that are
indigestible and cannot be absorbed.
Structural organization

• The organs of digestion are part of two main groups.

• The first is the gastrointestinal tract, or alimentary canal, which is a
long continuous tube that extends from the mouth to the anus
• The length of this tube is approximately 30 feet, or 9 meters.
• Its organs include the mouth or oral cavity, oropharynx, esophagus,
stomach, and the small and large intestine.
• The second group of organs consists of accessory structures. They
include the teeth, tongue, salivary glands, liver and gallbladder, and
pancreas.
Histology of the
Gastrointestinal Tract

• There are four tunics of

the canal. From the
inside out they are
called:
1. Tunica mucosa
2. Tunica submucosa
3. Tunica muscularis
4. Adventitia or tunica
serosa
The Mouth/Oral
Cavity
• Its sides are formed by the cheeks. The roof
consists of the hard and soft palates, and its
floor is formed by the tongue.
• During the chewing of food, the lips and
cheeks help keep food between the upper
and lower teeth.
• The hard palate forms the anterior part of the
roof of the mouth.
• The soft palate forms the posterior portion of
the roof of the mouth.
• The uvula functions in the swallowing process
and prevents food from backing up into the
nasal area.
• The tongue is attached to the hyoid bone and
has extrinsic and intrinsic muscles
Salivary Glands
• The large salivary glands are found
outside the oral cavity and pour their
secretions into ducts that empty into
the mouth.
• The three pairs of salivary glands are:
• Parotid gland
• Submandibular gland
• Sublingual gland.
Composition of saliva

• Saliva is 99.5% water, which provides a medium for dissolving foods.

The remaining 0.5% consists of the following solutes:
• Chlorides activate the salivary enzyme amylase.
• Amylase initiates the breakdown of complex carbohydrates like starch and
glycogen into simple sugars.
• Bicarbonates and phosphates, which are buffer chemicals, keep the saliva at a
slightly acidic pH of 6.35 to 6.85.
• Urea and uric acid are waste products.
• Mucin forms mucus to lubricate food.
• The enzyme lysozyme destroys bacteria, thus protecting the mucous membrane
from infection and the teeth from possible decay.
 Pharynx
• Swallowing begins when the tongue, with the
teeth and saliva, forms a soft mass called the
food bolus.
• Food is forced to the back of the mouth cavity
and into the oropharynx. (voluntary stage)
• Involuntary stage begins. First, the respiratory
passage-ways close and breathing is temporarily
interrupted.
• The food bolus stimulates oropharyngeal
receptors that send impulses to the brain. This
causes the soft palate and the uvula to move
upward and close off the nasopharynx.
• Now the larynx is pulled for- ward and upward
under the tongue where it meets the epiglottis
and seals off the glottis.
• The food bolus passes through the
laryngopharynx and enters the esophagus in
about 1 second.
• The respiratory passageways reopen and
breathing resumes.
The Esophagus
• The esophagus is a collapsible, muscular tube that is situated
behind the trachea.
• It is about 10 inches (23 to 25 cm) long and begins at the end of
the laryngopharynx.
• It passes through the mediastinum pierces the diaphragm
through an opening called the esophageal hiatus.
• Ends at the superior portion of the stomach.
• The function of the esophagus is to secrete mucus and transport
food to the stomach. It does not produce any digestive enzymes
and it does not absorb food.
• Food is pushed through the esophagus by smooth muscle
contractions, called peristalsis, repeated in wavelike motions
that push the food toward the stomach.
• Movement of solid or semisolid foods from the mouth to the
stomach takes 4 to 8 seconds; liquids pass in about 1 second.
• Just above the diaphragm muscle, the esophagus is slightly
narrowed by the lower esophageal or gastroesophageal
sphincter This sphincter connects the esophagus with the
stomach and controls the passage of food into the stomach.
The Stomach
The Stomach

Secreting cells
The Stomach

• The main chemical activity of the stomach is to begin the digestion of proteins by
the enzyme pepsin.
• The stomach then empties all its contents into the duodenum approximately 2 to 6
hours after ingestion.
• Food high in carbohydrates pass through the stomach first because their digestion
begins in the mouth via the salivary enzyme amylase.
• Protein foods pass through somewhat more slowly because their digestion begins
in the stomach.
• Foods containing large amounts of fats take the longest to pass into the duodenum.
• The stomach participates in the absorption of some water and salts.
Nasogastric
Tube (NGT)
Accessory organs of digestion

Gall
Pancreas Liver
bladder
 Pancreas
• It is a soft, oblong gland about 6 inches long and 1 inch
thick.
• It is found posterior to the great curvature of the stomach
and is connected by a duct to the duodenum of the small
intestine. The pancreas is divided into a head, the body,
and the tail.
• Internally, the pancreas is made up of clusters of glandular
epithelial cells.
• One group of these clusters, the islets of langerhans, or
the pancreatic islets.
• The other masses of cells are called the acini which are
the exocrine glands of the organ.
• The acini release a mixture of digestive enzymes (lipases,
carbohydrases, and proteases) called the pancreatic
juice, which leaves the pancreas through a large main
tube called the pancreatic duct, or duct of Wirsung.
• The duct cells secrete sodium bicarbonate. In most
individuals, the pancreatic duct unites with the common
bile duct of the liver and enters the duodenum in a
common duct, called the ampulla of Vater.
 The Liver

• The liver is one of the largest

organs of the digestive system
• The liver weighs approximately
4 pounds and is divided into
two principal lobes: the right
lobe and the left lobe, each
separated from one another by
the falciform ligament.
• The lobes of the liver are made
up of numerous functional units
called lobules.
Functions of the liver
The Gall bladder
• The gallbladder is a pear-shaped sac
about 3 to 4 inches long located in a
depression of the surface of the liver.
• The gallbladder’s function is to store
and concentrate the bile produced by
the liver lobules until it is needed in the
small intestine.
• The bile enters the duodenum through
the common bile duct.
 Small Intestine
• The major portion of absorption and
digestion occurs in the small intestine.
• It is approximately 21 feet in length and
averages 1 inch in diameter
• The small intestine is divided into three
portions:
1. The duodenum, which is the
shortest part and is about 10 inches
long; originates at the pyloric
sphincter
2. The jejunum is about 8 feet long
3. The ileum, 12 feet and joins the
large intestine at the ileocecal valve
The Small Intestine

• The mucosa of the small intestine contains many pits lined with glandular
epithelium.
• These pits are known as the intestinal glands or crypts of lieberkuhn .
They secrete the intestinal digestive enzymes.
• .The submucosa of the duodenum contains numerous Brunner’s glands,
now called duodenal glands, which secrete an alkaline mucus.
• Additional mucus is secreted by goblet cells. This mucus protects the walls
of the small intestine from being digested by enzymes and neutralizes the
acid found in the chyme , the digested, viscous, semifluid contents of the
intestine.
 The Small Intestine
• Approximately 80% of all absorption
of nutrients (simple sugars, amino
acids, fatty acids, water, vita- mins, and
minerals) occurs in the small intestine.
• The anatomic structure of the small
intestine is highly specialized for this
function.
1. The tract is 21 feet long.
2. An even larger surface for absorption
of nutrients is provided by the
structure of the walls of the tract,
which are thrown into a series of folds
called plicae
3. The mucosal coat is transformed into
projections called villi. (4 to 5
million) These villi increase the
surface area of the epithelium for
absorption of nutrients.
The Large intestine

• The functions of the large intestine are the absorption of water, the
manufacturing and absorption of certain vitamins, and the formation
and expulsion of the feces.
• The large intestine is about 5 feet in length and averages 2.5 inches in
diameter.
• It is divided into four principal regions:
• the cecum, the pouchlike first part of the large intestine
• the colon, the largest part
• the rectum
• the anal canal.
The Large
intestine
The Large intestine

• Three mechanical movements occur in the large intestine:

1. Haustral churning
2. Peristalsis at the rate of 3 to 12 contractions per minute
3. Mass peristalsis
• Food in the stomach initiates mass peristalsis, which is a
strong peristaltic wave that begins in the middle of the
transverse colon and drives its contents into the rectum.
Rectum and Anus
• The rectum is the last 7 to 8 inches of
the GIT
• It is situated anterior to the sacrum
and the coccyx
• The terminal 1 inch of the rectum is
called the anal canal. The mucous
membrane of the anal canal is
arranged in a series of longitudinal
folds called the anal columns that
contain a network of arteries and
veins.
The Large Intestine

• The absorption of water is an important function of the large

intestine.
• In addition, bacteria in the colon manufacture three important
vitamins that are also absorbed in the colon:
1. Vitamin K needed for clotting,
2. Biotin needed for glucose metabolism, and
3. Vitamin B5 needed to make certain hormones and neurotransmitters.
• Mucus is also produced by glands in the intestine. Intestinal
water absorption is greatest in the cecum and ascending colon.
The formation of feces

By the time the chyme has remained in the large intestine for 3 to 10
hours, it is a semisolid mass of material as a result of the absorption of
water and is now known as the feces.
The feces consist of water, inorganic salts, and epithelial cells from the
mucosa of the tract that were scraped away as the chyme moved
through the tract.
In addition, the feces have bacteria, in particular escherichia coli, a
normal inhabitant of our intestine that feeds on undigested materials.
The formation of feces
• The products of bacterial decomposition, such as
gas and odor (hydrogen sulfide gas, H2S, which
produces a “rotten egg” odor), and undigested
parts of food not attacked by bacteria are also
found in the feces.
• The more fiber (the cellulose of plant cell walls
from eating fruits and vegetables) in the diet, the
more undigestible materials in the feces and the
softer the stool.
• When mass peristalsis pushes the fecal material
into the rectum, it causes distention of the rectal
walls.
• This triggers pressure-sensitive receptors in the
walls of the rectum, sending an impulse to the
nervous system, which initiates the reflex for
defecation.
• Defecation is the act of emptying the rectum and is
the final activity of the digestive system.