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STOMACH
The stomach is a muscular sack for the storage and digestion of food. The stomach can be divided into three regions:
-fundus
-body
-pylorus
Each stomach region contains slightly different mucosa that reflects their different function. The stomach epithelium invaginates to form multiple gastric pits. At the bottom of each gastric pit lie gastric glands that reach deep into the lamina propria. Gastric glands produce stomach acid, pepsinogen, and mucus that are then secreted into gastric pits.
LARGE INTESTINE
The large intestine (a.k.a colon) connects the end of the ileum to the anal canal.
In the large intestine, the intestinal content that arrived there from the small intestine is dehydrated and compacted into feces. The large intestine starts as a pouch called cecum and continues as the ascending, transverse, descending and sigmoid colon, followed by the rectum and anus.
The large intestine has the same four layers as other parts of the digestive tract. It is lined by simple columnar epithelium. The characteristic features of the large intestine are the lack of villi and the presence of the intestinal crypts (glands).
SMALL INTESTINE
The small intestine is a long tube that extends from the stomach to the junction with the large intestine (a.k.a colon.) The major functions of the small intestine are digestion, secretion, and absorption. The small intestine is divided into three segments:
-duodenum
-jejunum
-ileum
The mucosa of the small intestine has some adaptations to the functions it serves. It is heavily creased into the structures that increase the surface area where the nutrients are digested and absorbed. These adaptations include intestinal folds called the plicae circulares, villi, and microvilli.