Tag: digestion and absorption

Gastric juice contains hydrochloric acid (HCl), which gives it a very low pH, making it highly acidic. This acidity is necessary to activate pepsinogen and kill bacteria.

Pancreatic juice and bile both empty into the duodenum. They typically join to form the common bile duct or hepatopancreatic duct before entering the duodenum at the major duodenal papilla.

Chymotrypsin is a proteolytic enzyme secreted by the pancreas in an inactive form (chymotrypsinogen) as part of the pancreatic juice.

Gastric lipase is an enzyme that is particularly important in infants for the digestion of milk fats, as their pancreatic lipase levels may not yet be fully developed.

Succus entericus is the technical term for intestinal juice, which is secreted by the glands of the small intestine (crypts of Lieberkuhn and Brunner's glands).

The exocrine portion of the pancreas consists of acinar cells, which synthesize and secrete digestive enzymes into the pancreatic ducts.

Digestion of fat begins in duodenum with the help of pancreatic lipase but cannot be completed there because of its small size. Further it is component of small intestine. In infants some digestion occurs in stomach.

Peyer's patches are lymphoid aggregates found in the submucosa of the ileum. They are a key component of the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT).

Succus entericus, also known as intestinal juice, contains a wide variety of enzymes including disaccharidases, dipeptidases, lipases, and nucleosidases that complete the final stages of carbohydrate, protein, and fat digestion. Thus, it is referred to as a complete digestive juice. Pancreatic juice contains many enzymes too, but succus entericus finalizes all nutrient breakdowns.