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Goblet cells secrete mucus, which lubricates the passage of food along and protects the intestinal wall from digestive enzymes. In the small intestine, villi are folds of the mucosa that increase the surface area of the intestine. The villi contain a lacteal, a vessel connected to the lymph system that aids in the removal of lipids and tissue ...
The human digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract plus the accessory organs of digestion (the tongue, salivary glands, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder). Digestion involves the breakdown of food into smaller and smaller components, until they can be absorbed and assimilated into the body.
The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and other animals, including the esophagus , stomach , and intestines .
Control of the digestive system is also maintained by ENS, which can be thought of as a digestive brain that can help to regulate motility, secretion and growth. Sensory information from the digestive system can be received, integrated and acted upon by the enteric system alone. When this occurs, the reflex is called a short reflex. [4]
The small intestine supports the body's immune system. [20] The presence of gut flora appears to contribute positively to the host's immune system. Peyer's patches, located within the ileum of the small intestine, are an important part of the digestive tract's local immune system. They are part of the lymphatic system, and provide a site for ...
The analogous gross morphologies of a human and an ant. In the worker ant, the abdomen consists of the propodeum fused to the thorax and the metasoma, itself divided into the narrow petiole and bulbous gaster. In insects, the abdomen contains the insect's digestive tract and reproductive organs. It consists of eleven segments in most orders of ...
In most vertebrates, digestion is a multistage process in the digestive system, starting from ingestion of raw materials, most often other organisms. Ingestion usually involves some type of mechanical and chemical processing. Digestion is separated into four steps: Ingestion: placing food into the mouth (entry of food in the digestive system),
In the human digestive system, a bolus (a small rounded mass of chewed up food) enters the stomach through the esophagus via the lower esophageal sphincter. The stomach releases proteases (protein-digesting enzymes such as pepsin), and hydrochloric acid, which kills or inhibits bacteria and provides the acidic pH of 2 for the proteases to work.