The Digestion

and Absorption
of Food
Chapter 15
• Overview of the Digestive System
I. The digestive system transfers digested organic nutrients, minerals, and water from the external
environment to the internal environment.
• The four major processes used to accomplish this function are digestion, secretion, absorption,
and motility.
a. The system functions to maximize the absorption of most nutrients, not to regulate the amount
absorbed.
b. The system does not make a major contribution to the removal of waste products from the
internal environment; therefore, elimination is usually not listed as a major function compared to
the lungs and kidneys.
Structure of the Gastrointestinal Tract Wall
I. Figure 15.3 diagrams the structure of the wall of the gastrointestinal tract.
a. The area available for absorption in the small intestine is greatly increased by the folding of the
intestinal wall and by the presence of villi and microvilli on the surface of the epithelial cells.
b. The epithelial cells lining the intestinal tract are continuously replaced by new cells arising from
cell division at the base of the villi.
c. 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
lymphatic vessels (lacteals) in each villus.
• General Functions of the Gastrointestinal and Accessory
Organs
I. Table 15.1 summarizes the names and functions of the
gastrointestinal organs.
II. Each day, the gastrointestinal tract secretes about six
times more fluid into the lumen than is ingested. Only 1% of
this fluid is excreted in the feces.
 Digestion and Absorption
• I. Starch is digested by amylases secreted by the salivary glands and pancreas. The
resulting products, as well as ingested disaccharides, are digested to
monosaccharides by enzymes in the apical membranes of epithelial cells in the small
intestine.
a. Most monosaccharides are then absorbed by secondary active transport.
b. Some polysaccharides, such as cellulose, cannot be digested and pass to the large
intestine, where bacteria metabolize them.
II. Proteins are broken down into small peptides and amino acids, which are absorbed
by secondary active transport in the small intestine.
a. The breakdown of proteins to peptides is catalyzed by pepsin in the stomach and by
the pancreatic enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin in the small intestine.
b. Peptides are broken down into amino acids by pancreatic carboxypeptidase and
intestinal aminopeptidase.
c. Small peptides consisting of two to three amino acids can be actively absorbed into
epithelial cells and then broken down to amino acids, which are released into the
blood.
• III. The digestion and absorption of fat by the small intestine require
mechanisms that solubilize the fat and its digestion products.
a. Large fat globules leaving the stomach are emulsified in the small
intestine by bile salts and phospholipids secreted by the liver.
b. Lipase from the pancreas digests fat at the surface of the emulsion
droplets, forming fatty acids and monoglycerides.
c. These water-insoluble products of lipase action, when combined with
bile salts, form micelles, which are in equilibrium with the free molecules.
d. Free fatty acids and monoglycerides diffuse across the apical
membranes of epithelial cells, where they are enzymatically recombined
to form triglycerides, which are released as chylomicrons from the blood
side of the cell by exocytosis.
e. The released chylomicrons enter lacteals in the intestinal villi and pass
by way of the lymphatic system and the thoracic duct to the venous blood
returning to the heart
• IV. 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 B12 is absorbed in the ileum by endocytosis after
combining with intrinsic factor secreted into the lumen by parietal cells in the
stomach.
• V. Water is absorbed from the small intestine by osmosis following the active
absorption of solutes, primarily sodium chloride.
How Are Gastrointestinal Processes Regulated?
I. Most gastrointestinal reflexes are initiated by luminal stimuli: distension, osmolarity,
acidity, and digestion products.
a. 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.
b. Endocrine cells scattered throughout the epithelium of the stomach secrete gastrin;
and cells in the small intestine secrete secretin, CCK, and GIP. Table 15.4 lists the
properties of these hormones.
c. The three phases of gastrointestinal regulation—cephalic, gastric, and intestinal—are
each named for the location of the stimulus that initiates the response
• II. Chewing breaks up food into particles suitable for swallowing, but it is not
essential for the eventual digestion and absorption of food.
• III. Salivary secretion is stimulated by food in the mouth acting reflexively via
chemoreceptors and pressure receptors and by sensory stimuli (e.g., sight or
smell of food). Both sympathetic stimulation and (especially) parasympathetic
stimulation increase salivary secretion.
• IV. Food moved into the pharynx by the tongue initiates swallowing, which is
coordinated by the swallowing center in the brainstem medulla oblongata.
a. Food is prevented from entering the trachea by inhibition of respiration and by
closure of the glottis.
b. The upper esophageal sphincter relaxes as food is moved into the esophagus,
and then the sphincter closes.
c. Food is moved through the esophagus toward the stomach by peristaltic
waves. The lower esophageal sphincter remains open throughout swallowing.
d. If food does not reach the stomach with the first peristaltic wave, distension of
the esophagus initiates secondary peristalsis.
• V. Table 15.5 summarizes the factors controlling acid secretion by parietal
cells in the stomach.
• VI. 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, primarily by acid.
• VII. 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 is expelled into the small intestine through the
pyloric sphincter.
a. 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.
b. 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
• VIII. The exocrine portion of the pancreas secretes digestive enzymes and
HCO3-, all of which reach the duodenum through the pancreatic duct.
a. The HCO3- neutralizes acid entering the small intestine from the
stomach.
b. 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; trypsin then activates other
inactive pancreatic enzymes.
c. The hormone secretin, released from the small intestine in response to
increased luminal acidity, stimulates pancreatic HCO3 - secretion. The small
intestine releases CCK in response to the products of fat and protein
digestion. CCK then stimulates pancreatic enzyme secretion.
d. Parasympathetic stimulation increases pancreatic secretion.
• IX. The liver secretes bile, the major ingredients of which are bile
salts, cholesterol, lecithin, HCO3-, bile pigments, and trace metals.
a. Bile salts undergo continuous enterohepatic recirculation during a
meal. The liver synthesizes new bile salts to replace those lost in the
feces.
X. In the small intestine, the digestion of polysaccharides and
proteins increases the osmolarity of the luminal contents, producing
water flow into the lumen.
XI. Na+, Cl-, HCO3-, 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.
• XIII. The primary function of the large intestine is to store and
concentrate fecal matter before defecation.
a. Water is absorbed from the large intestine secondary to the active
absorption of Na+, leading to the concentration of fecal matter.
b. Flatus is produced by bacterial fermentation of undigested
polysaccharides.
c. Three to four times a day, mass movements in the colon move its
contents into the rectum.
d. Distension of the rectum initiates defecation, which is assisted by a
forced expiration against a closed glottis.
e. Defecation can be voluntarily controlled through somatic nerves to
the skeletal muscles of the external anal sphincter.