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However, the primary function of the large intestine is water absorption from digested material (regulated by the hypothalamus) and the reabsorption of sodium and nutrients. [ 43 ] Beneficial intestinal bacteria compete with potentially harmful bacteria for space and "food", as the intestinal tract has limited resources.
The large intestine absorbs some of the products formed by the bacteria inhabiting this region. Undigested polysaccharides (fiber) are metabolized to short-chain fatty acids by bacteria in the large intestine and absorbed by passive diffusion. The bicarbonate that the large intestine secretes helps to neutralize the increased acidity resulting ...
The cecum is a pouch marking the division between the small intestine and the large intestine. It lies below the ileocecal valve in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen. [33] The cecum receives chyme from the last part of the small intestine, the ileum, and connects to the ascending colon of the large intestine. At this junction there is a ...
Polysaccharidases and disaccharidases in the glycocalyx break down large sugar molecules, which are then absorbed. Glucose crosses the apical membrane of the enterocyte using the sodium-glucose cotransporter. It moves through the cytosol (cytoplasm) and exits the enterocyte via the basolateral membrane (into the blood capillary) using GLUT2.
The intestinal epithelium is the single cell layer that forms the luminal surface (lining) of both the small and large intestine (colon) of the gastrointestinal tract. Composed of simple columnar epithelium its main functions are absorption, and secretion. Useful substances are absorbed into the body, and the entry of harmful substances is ...
In the large intestines, villi are absent and a flat surface with thousands of glands is observed. Underlying the epithelium is the lamina propria, which contains myofibroblasts, blood vessels, nerves, and several different immune cells, and the muscularis mucosa which is a layer of smooth muscle that aids in the action of continued peristalsis ...
Some food material is passed from the small intestine to the large intestine. In the large intestine, bacteria break down any proteins and starches in chyme that were not digested fully in the small intestine. When all of the nutrients have been absorbed from chyme, the remaining waste material changes into semisolids that are called feces.
Through this process of mixing and continued digestion and absorption of nutrients, the chyme gradually works its way through the small intestine to the large intestine. [ 8 ] In contrast to peristalsis, segmentation contractions result in that churning and mixing without pushing materials further down the digestive tract.