Digestive

System

Digestive
(ikpd)
System
(ra=)

By: Rahul Malik

January, 2016

Contents:
Anatomy of the
Digestive System
Physiology of the
Digestive System
Enzymes and
Digestion

Anatomy
of the
Digestive
System

The digestive system consists of the digestive

tract, a tube extending from the mouth to the anus,
and its associated accessory organs, primarily
glands, which secrete fluids into the digestive tract.
The digestive tract is also called the alimentary
tract, or alimentary canal. The term
gastrointestinal tract technically only refers to the
stomach and intestines but is often used as a
synonym for the digestive tract.

The regions of the digestive tract include:

1. The mouth or oral cavity
2. The pharynx, or throat,
3. The oesophagus,
4. The stomach,
5. The small intestine,
6. The large intestine,
7. The anus.

Oral cavity
Food begins its journey through the digestive system
in the mouth, also known as the oral cavity. Inside
the mouth are many accessory organs that aid in the
digestion of foodthe tongue, teeth, and salivary
glands. Teeth chop food into small pieces, which are
moistened by saliva before the tongue and other
muscles push the food into the pharynx.

Teeth:

The teeth are 32 small,

hard organs found
along the anterior and
lateral edges of the
mouth. Each tooth is made of a bone-like substance
called dentin and covered in a layer of enamelthe
hardest substance in the body. Teeth are living organs
and contain blood vessels and nerves under the
dentin in a soft region known as the pulp. The teeth
are designed for cutting and grinding food into
smaller pieces.

gue

ngue is located on the inferior portion of the mouth just

ior and medial to the teeth. It is a small organ made up
eral pairs of muscles covered in a thin, bumpy, skin-like laye
utside of the tongue contains many rough papillae for grippin
s it is moved by the tongues muscles. The taste buds on the
e of the tongue detect taste molecules in food and connect t
in the tongue to send taste information to the brain. The ton
elps to push food toward the posterior part of the mouth for
wing.

Bile: Made in Liver Stored in Gall

Bladder
Emulsifies
fats
Makes
them water
soluble
In
small
intestine

Villi: Small intestine absorb

food

Functions
of the
Digestive
System

1. Ingestion: is the introduction of solid or liquid food

into the stomach. The normal route of ingestion is
through the oral cavity, but food can be introduced
directly into the stomach by a nasogastric, or stomach,
2. Mastication: is the process by which food taken
tube.
into the mouth is chewed by the teeth. Digestive
enzymes cannot easily penetrate solid food particles
and can only work effectively on the surfaces of the
particles. Mastication breaks large food particles into
many smaller particles, which have a much larger
total surface area than do a few large particles.
3. Propulsion: in the digestive tract is the movement
of food from one end of the digestive tract to the
other. The total time that it takes food to travel the
length of the digestive tract is usually about 2436
hours. Each segment of the digestive tract is
specialized to assist in moving its contents from the
oral end to the anal end.

4. Mixing: Some contractions dont propel food

(chyme) from one end of the digestive tract to the
other but rather move the food back and forth within
the digestive tract to mix it with digestive secretions
and to help break it into smaller pieces.
5. Secretion: As food moves through the digestive
tract, secretions are added to lubricate, liquefy, and
digest the food. Mucus, secreted along the entire
digestive tract, lubricates the food and the lining of
the tract. The mucus coats and protects mechanical
abrasion, from the damaging effect of acid in the
6. Digestion: is the breakdown of large organic
stomach.
molecules into their component parts: carbohydrates
into monosaccharides, proteins into amino acids, and
triglycerides into fatty acids and glycerol. Digestion
consists of mechanical digestion, which involves
mastication and mixing of food, and chemical
digestion, which is accomplished by digestive
enzymes that are secreted along the digestive tract.

7. Absorption: is the movement of molecules out of

the digestive tract and into the circulation or into the
lymphatic system. The mechanism by which absorption
occurs depends on the type of molecule involved.
Molecules pass out of the digestive tract by simple
diffusion, facilitated diffusion, active transport, or
cotransport.
8. Elimination: is the process by which the waste
products of digestion are removed from the body.
During this process, occurring primarily in the large
intestine, water and salts are absorbed and change
the material in the digestive tract from a liquefied
state to a semisolid state. These semisolid waste
products, called feces, are then eliminated from the
digestive tract by the process of defecation.

Enzymes and Digestion:

Diseases
of the
Digestive
System

A. Bacterial Diseases of the Upper

Digestive Tract (Mouth & Stomach)
1. Tooth Decay (dental caries)
2. A) This is an endogenous infection
1) Most common infectious disease of
humans 2) Young are more susceptible
old
B)than
Causative
agent Streptococcus
mutans and sucrose
1) Thrive in acidic environments,
however saliva in the mouth keeps
the pH normally about 7
2) Use pili to attach to tooth enamel
3) Metabolize sucrose to produce two

a) glucan a key component to dental

plaque; makes the plaque impenetrable to
saliva
b) lactic acid breaks down the tooths
enamel

2. Mumps
A) Mumps is an acute viral infection of the
parotid glands (Parotitis)
B) The mumps virus belongs to the
paramyxovirus family
1) RNA virus
C) Humans are the only source of the
virus

D) Symptoms include fever, headache,

sore throat, face pain and swelling of
the parotid glands
E) In addition to targeting the parotid
gland, the virus also targets the
testes, ovaries, meninges and

C. Bacterial Diseases of the Lower

Digestive
Tract
(Small
&
Large
Intestine)
1. Food & water-borne infections
A) Cholera
B) Shigellosis
1) Caused (Dysentery)
by Vibrio cholera
1) Primarily caused by Shigella dysenteriae
(not common is U.S.), Shigella flexneri,
and Shigella sonnei
a) The bacteria attack the large
intestine
2) It is transmitted via a fecal-oral route
3) Humans are generally the only
reservoir

C) Typhoid Fever
1) Caused by Salmonella typhi
2) Fecal-oral route of transmission;
attacks the small intestine
3) Humans are the only reservoir for S.
typhi
4) Symptoms include high fever (103104o), malaise, stomach pains, loss of
appetite and in some cases a rash
develops

D) Hepatitis inflammation of the liver

(A, B, C, D, E, & G)
A) Hepatitis A (HAV) formerly
called infectious hepatitis
1) Spreads via fecal-oral route
2) Most infections are
asymptomatic or show only mild
symptoms

Parasitic Infections of the GI Tract

1. Tapeworms

2 main body parts

1) Scolex
a) Head portion, attaches to the wall
of the small intestine
2) Strobila
a) Remaining portion of the tapeworm
b) Composed of a series of
reproductive segments known as
proglottids which release their eggs
into the intestine

oints to Remember
Digestion is important for breaking
down food into nutrients, which the
body uses for energy, growth, and
cell repair.
Digestion works by moving food
through the gastrointestinal (GI)
tract.
Digestion begins in the mouth with

As food passes through the GI

tract, it
mixes with digestive juices, causing
large molecules of food to break
down into smaller molecules. The
body then absorbs these smaller
molecules through the walls of the
small
intestine
into
the
bloodstream, which delivers them to
the rest of the body.
Waste products of digestion pass

Digestive juices contain enzymes

that
break food down into different
nutrients.
The small intestine absorbs most
digested food molecules, as well as
water and minerals, and passes
them on to other parts of the body
for storage or further chemical
change.
Hormone
and
nerve
regulators control the digestive

Rahul

Malik

Thank You