Small intestine

• In vertebrates, the small intestine is the part of the gastrointestinal

tract (gut) following the stomach and followed by the large intestine,
and is where the vast majority of digestion and absorption of food
takes place.
• In invertebrates such as worms, the terms "gastrointestinal tract"
and "large intestine" are often used to describe the entire intestine.
• This article is primarily about the human gut, though the
information about its processes are directly applicable to most
mammals.
• (A major exception to this are cows; for information about
digestion in cows and other similar mammals, see ruminants.)
• The small intestine in an adult human measures on average about
5 meters (16 feet), with a normal range of 3 - 7 meters; it can measure
around 50% longer at autopsy because of loss of smooth muscle tone
after death.
• It is approximately 2.5-3 cm in diameter.
• Although the small intestine is much longer than the large
intestine (typically around 3 times longer), it gets its name from its
comparatively smaller diameter.
• Although as a simple tube the length and diameter of the small
intestine would have a surface area of only about 0.5m , the surface
2

complexity of the inner lining of the small intestine increase its surface
area by a factor of 500 to approximately 200m , or roughly the size of a
2

tennis court.
• Food from the stomach is allowed into the duodenum by a muscle
called the pylorus, or pyloric sphincter, and is then pushed through the
small intestine by a process of muscular-wavelike contractions
called peristalsis.
• The small intestine is where most chemical digestion takes place.
• Most of the digestive enzymes that act in the small intestine are
secreted by the pancreas and enter the small intestine via the
pancreatic duct.
• The enzymes enter the small intestine in response to the
hormone cholecystokinin, which is produced in the small intestine in
response to the presence of nutrients.
• The hormone secretin also causes bicarbonate to be released into
the small intestine from the pancreas in order to neutralize the
potentially harmful acid coming from the stomach.
• Digested food is now able to pass into the blood vessels in the wall
of the intestine through the process of diffusion.
• The small intestine is the site where most of the nutrients from
ingested food are absorbed.
• The inner wall, or mucosa, of the small intestine is lined with
simple columnar epithelial tissue.
• Structurally, the mucosa is covered in wrinkles or folds called plicae
circulares, which are considered permanent features in the wall of the
organ.
• They are distinct from rugae which are considered non-permanent
or temporary allowing for distention and contraction.
• From the plicae circulares project microscopic finger-like pieces of
tissue called villi (Latin for "shaggy hair").
• The individual epithelial cells also have finger-like projections
known as microvilli.
• The function of the plicae circulares, the villi and the microvilli is to
increase the amount of surface area available for the absorption
of nutrients.
• Each villus has a network of capillaries and fine lymphatic vessels
called lacteals close to its surface.