Questions about the digestive system?Hello. My homework requires at least 5 interesting facts about the pancreas and the liver. I already have a couple ,but I need more ideas. Answers will be greatly appreciated!
Posted by chanti
Glucagon is an important hormone involved in carbohydrate metabolism. Produced by the pancreas, it is released when blood glucose levels start to fall too low, causing the liver to convert stored glycogen into glucose and release it into the bloodstream, raising blood glucose levels and ultimately...
, and somatostatin
Somatostatin
Somatostatin is a peptide hormone that regulates the endocrine system and affects neurotransmission and cell proliferation via interaction with G-protein-coupled somatostatin receptors and inhibition of the release of numerous secondary hormones.Somatostatin...
, as well as an exocrine gland
Exocrine gland
Exocrine glands are glands that secrete their products into ducts . They are the counterparts to endocrine glands, which secrete their products directly into the bloodstream or release hormones that affect only target cells nearby the release site.-Examples:Typical exocrine glands include sweat...
, secreting pancreatic juice
Pancreatic juice
Pancreatic juice is a liquid secreted by the pancreas, which contains a variety of enzymes, including trypsinogen, chymotrypsinogen, elastase, carboxypeptidase, pancreatic lipase, and amylase....
containing digestive
Digestion
Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be absorbed, for instance, by a blood stream. Digestion is a form of catabolism.that means break down of macro food molecules to smaller one....
enzyme
Enzyme
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, called the products. Almost all processes in a biological cell need enzymes to occur at...
s that pass to the small intestine
Small intestine
In vertebrates, the small intestine is the part of the gastrointestinal tract 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...
. These enzymes help in the further breakdown of the carbohydrates, protein
Protein
Proteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and folded into a globular form. The amino acids in a polymer chain are joined together by the peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues...
, and fat
Fat
Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are generally triesters of glycerol and fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at normal room temperature, depending on their structure and composition...
in the chyme
Chyme
Chyme is the semifluid mass of partly digested food expelled by the stomach into the duodenum. In other words, chyme is half-digested food.Also known as chymus, it is the liquid substance found in the stomach before passing through the pyloric valve and entering the duodenum...
.
Histology
Under a microscope
Microscope
A microscope is an instrument to see objects too tiny for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy. Microscopic means invisible to the eye unless aided by a microscope.-History:An early microscope was made in 1590 in Middelburg, The...
, stained sections of the pancreas reveal two different types of parenchyma
Parenchyma
Parenchyma is a term used to describe a bulk of a substance. It is used in different ways in animals and in plants.The term is New Latin, from Greek parenkhuma, visceral flesh, from parenkhein, to pour in beside : para-, beside + en-, in + khein, to pour.- In animals :The parenchyma are the...
l tissue. Lightly staining clusters of cells are called islets of Langerhans
Islets of Langerhans
The islets of Langerhans are the regions of the pancreas that contain its endocrine cells. Discovered in 1869 by German pathological anatomist Paul Langerhans, the islets of Langerhans constitute approximately 1 to 2% of the mass of the pancreas...
, which produce hormone
Hormone
A hormone is a chemical released by one or more cells that affects cells in other parts of the organism. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. It is essentially a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one cell to another. All multicellular organisms...
s that underlie the endocrine functions of the pancreas. Darker staining cells form acini
Acinus
An acinus refers to any cluster of cells that resembles a many-lobed "berry," such as a raspberry...
connected to ducts. Acinar cells belong to the exocrine pancreas
Exocrine pancreas
The exocrine pancreas has ducts that are arranged in clusters called acini . Pancreatic secretions are secreted into the lumen of the acinus, and then acc
Posted by eli
You may already know that the pancreas has both exocrine and endocrine functions. The exocrine pancreas produces digestive enzymes and an alkalin fluid known as pancreatic juice and secretes them into the small intestines through exocrine ducts in response to the small intestine hormones "secretin" and "cholecystokinin"
These two hormones serve other purposes as well once they get into the blood stream.
Cholecystokinin also acts on the hypothalamus regarding hunger and satiation
Secretin also acts in osmoregulation on hypothalamus, pituitary, and kidney
You may want to look up the endocrine (ductless) system and functions of exocrine glands to get an understanding of the significance of this
You would do well to look up secretin and cholecystokinin too
best of luck to you either way
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