RAT DIGESTIVE

SYSTEM
DIGESTIVE
SYSTEM OF RAT
Mouth (Oral Cavity)
Thecodont
Heterodont
Monophyodont
Molars

Incisors
HETERODONT

• Teeth are different types or dissimilar

Incisors
•They grow continuously

Molars
MONOPHYODONT

• Have one set of teeth their entire lives

• Teeth appear in the mouth as young as eight days

• Adult rat has 16 •• Child
Adult20Human
milk
teeth has 32 teeth
teeth
• Incisors 1/1
• Incisors
Y
1/1 •• Canine
IncisorsY 2/2
0/0
• Canine 0/0 •• Premolars
Canine 1/1
0/0
• Premolars 0/0 •• Molars
Premolars 3/3 2/2
• Molars 3/3 • Molars 3/3
• Freely movable
muscular organ attached
to the floor of the
buccal cavity by Lingual
Frenulum (FL)
• The upper surface of the tongue has
small projections called papillae, some Rat
of which bear taste buds.

• Rat taste buds contains an average of

68.4 taste cells. The numbers of cells
per taste bud ranged from 34 to 126 in
the rat.

• The average person has about 10,000 Human

taste buds and they're replaced every
2 weeks or so. But as a person ages,
some of those taste cells don't get
replaced. An older person may only
have 5,000 working taste buds.
PHARYNX

• Common passage for digestive and

respiratory systems

• Opening of oesophagus

• Opening of larynx - Glottis

GLOTTIS

• Glottis is guarded by a flap of tissue

called epiglottis.

• When food materials pass through the

pharynx the epiglottis closes the glottis.
OESOPHAGUS
• Narrow muscular tube
• Leads to stomach
• Pass through the
diaphragm (a muscular
partition that separates
thorax from abdomen)
OESOPHAGEAL SPHINCTER
(GASTRO OESOPHAGIAL SPHINCTER)
• The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is a
bundle of muscles at the low end of the
esophagus, where it meets the stomach.

• It controls the opening of the oesophagus

into the stomach. When the LES is
closed, it prevents acid and stomach
contents from travelling backwards from
the stomach.

• The LES muscles are not under voluntary

control.
• The opening of the stomach into the
duodenum is guarded by pyloric
sphincter.

• Controls the flow of food (chyme) to the

intestine. The force of these
contractions increases in the lower
parts of the stomach. With each wave,
the pyloric sphincter opens and allows
a little bit of chyme to pass into the
duodenum.

• As the duodenum fills, it puts pressure

on the pyloric sphincter, causing it to
close.
• Long, highly coiled, narrow
tube
• Small intestine lengths and
transit times vary with the
age of the rat
• The length values listed below
are adult averages
• About 1.13 meters long
• Divided into
- duodenum: 10 cm in length
- jejunum: 100 cm in length
- ileum: 3 cm in length
• First part of the small intestine
• ‘U’ shaped
• Separated from the stomach by
pyloric sphincter
• Receives common opening of the
bile and pancreatic duct
• Receives partially digested food
(known as chyme) from the stomach
• Plays a vital role in the chemical
digestion of chyme in preparation
for absorption in the small intestine
• Coiled and longer

• The jejunum, along with the

other areas of the small
intestine, is responsible for
absorbing nutrients from
digested food into the
bloodstream.

• The jejunum is able to absorb

these nutrients because it is lined
with finger-like projections that Jejunum
are called villi
• Highly coiled
• Opens into the large
intestine
• Area of absorption of vitamin
B12, bile salts, and whatever
products of digestion were
not absorbed by the jejunum
• 0.26 meters long
• Differentiated into:
- Caecum
- Colon
- Rectum
 CAECUM
• Thin-walled, comma-shaped pouch
with a prominent lymphoid area
found on the lateral aspect of the
apex. Although the rat caecum does
not possess an inner septa as seen in
other rodents it has an inner
constriction which divides the
structure into apical and basilar
sections. The lymphoid tissue is
ca
thought to be analogous to the ec
um
vermiform appendix found in human
beings.
• Though there are some
differences in the function of the
colon in different species, the
organ primarily acts as a
temporary repository for waste
products and as a site of water
absorption.
• The colon has three divisions:
ascending, transverse, and
descending. The ascending
portion has oblique mucosal
ridges, whereas the mucosal folds
of the transverse and descending
regions have longitudinal mucosal
folds.
RECTUM
• The rectum is that
region of the
gastrointestinal tract
found in the pelvic
canal.

• Temporary storage of
faeces.

• Rectum opens out by

Anus.
HISTOLOGY OF RAT GUT
The purpose of the gastric rugae is to allow for expansion of the stomach after
the consumption of foods and liquids.
• (Sing:- Villus)

• Mucosal layer forms small

finger like folding in the
small intestine called Villi

• Small intestine job is to

absorb nutrients from food
and Villi help by increasing
the surface area the
intestine has for digestion
• Derived from blood plasma
• Slightly alkaline
• Contain water (99%) & electrolyte
(Na+, K+, Cl-, HCO3-)
• Mucin, ptyalin, lyzozyme &
inorganic salts
• Pytalin digest starch into
maltose
 LIVER
• Liver weight: 10.0 g/250 g
• Liver volume: 19.6 mL/250 g
• Bile flow: 22.5 mL/d/250 g
• Consists of four lobes: median,
right lateral, left, and caudate
• The rat has no gall bladder
• The bile from each lobe leaves via
ducts
• These ducts then form the common bile
duct, which enters the duodenum
approximately 25 mm distal to the
pyloric sphincter
LIVER

The liver performs many other functions:

production of bile, proteins for blood,
cholesterol and special proteins to help
carry fats, store and release glucose,
transformation of harmful ammonia to urea,
and creating immune factors.
BILE

• Golden yellow or greenish fluid

• Alkaline nature
• Bile pigments (product of dead RBC) (biliverdin &
bilirubin)
• Bile salts
• Cholesterol
• Phospholipids
• Bile salts play a very important role in the
emulsification of fat
The diffuse nature of the organ results in a network of ducts which coalesce into
2-8 larger ducts emptying into the common bile duct.
• Found on the wall of
stomach
• Formed on three kinds of
cells
1. Mucous cells
2. Chief cells or
Zymogen cells
3. Oxyntic cells or
Parietal cells
• Simple tubular glands found throughout
small intestine
• Two types
Crypts of Lieberkuhn
Glands of Brunner
 CRYPTS OF LIEBERKUHN
•Goblet cells: Secretion of mucus, which forms a
protective gel-like layer over the surface epithelium
and protects against bacterial invasion.

•Paneth cells: Highly specialized secretory

epithelial cells located in the small intestinal crypts of
Lieberkühn. The dense granules produced by Paneth
cells contain an abundance of antimicrobial peptides
and immunomodulatory proteins that function to
regulate the composition of the intestinal flora.

Many surface area of gastro intestinal tract

are lined by evaginations of the epithelium
into sub mucosa similar to pits. These pits of
the intestine are called Crypts of Lieberkuhn
The Brunner glands, which
empty into the intestinal
glands, secrete an alkaline
fluid composed of mucin,
which exerts a physiologic
anti-acid function by coating
the duodenal epithelium,
therefore protecting it from
the acid chyme of the
stomach.
CARBOHYDRATE
DIGESTION
Buccal cavity
Salivary amylase
Starch Maltose
Stomach
No carbohydrate
digestion

Small intestine
P. amylase
Starch Maltose
Maltase
Maltose 2 Glucose
Lactase
Lactose Glucose +
Galactose
Sucrase
Sucrose Glucose +
Fructose
 PROTEIN DIGESTION

Buccal Cavity
No protein digestion

Stomach HCl
Pepsinogen Pesin

Protein Pepsin Peptone +

Proteoses

Small intestine
Trypsinogen Enterokinase Trypsin

Chymotrypsinogen Chymotrypsi
n
Procarboxy Carboxy
peptidase peptidase

Proteins Trypsin/Chymotrypsin
Peptones Dipeptides
Proteoses Carboxy peptidase
Dipeptidase Peptone = large peptides
Dipeptides Amino acids Proteoses = smaller peptides
 FAT DIGESTION

Buccal Cavity
No fat digestion

Stomach
Gastric lipase hydrolyses
only a small amount of fat

Small intestine
Bile
Fat Fat droplets

Emulsification
Pancreatic lipase
Fat Chymotrypsin

Monoglycerides

Fatty acids & Glycerol

NUCLEIC ACID DIGESTION

Small Intestine
Nucleic acids Nucleotides Nucleosides Sugar + Bases
DIGESTION

• Complete digestion of
food take place in the
duodenum. The fully
digested food is semi
fluid in nature and is
known as chyle
ABSORPTION OF DIGESTED PRODUCTS

• Absorption is the process by

which the end products of
digestion pass through the
intestinal mucosa
(transported through the
intestinal mucosa) into the
blood or lymph.

• The end products of digestion

are absorbed in the jejunum
and ileum regions of small
intestine.
(a) (b)
Functions

• Absorption of water,
manufacture of minerals
salts, and certain drugs.
• The formation of faeces,
and expulsion of faeces
from the body.
• Secretion of mucus which
helps in adhering waste.
EGESTION