HISTOLOGY OF GIT

BY DR SUNDUS TARIQ

GIT

GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT

The entire tubular gastrointestinal tract has certain common structural characteristics. It is a hollow tube with a lumen of variable diameter and a wall made up of four main layers: 1. Mucosa, 2. Submucosa, 3. Muscularis externa 4. Serosa / Adventitia

GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT

GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT

1. MUCOSA
Epithelial lining
Lining luminal surface of organ.

Lamina propria
Loose connective tissue rich in blood vessels, lymphatics, lymphocytes, plasma cells histiocytes, sometimes also containing glands.

Muscularis mucosae
thin layer of longitudinal smooth muscle usually separates mucosa from submucosa.

The mucosa is frequently called a mucous membrane.

2. SUBMUCOSA
Areolar connective tissue Plexuses of blood and lymph vessels Submucosal plexus of autonomic nerves (Meissners plexus). Glands and lymphoid tissue.

Meissners Plexus
Network of ganglia and interconnecting nerve fiber bundles Parasympathetic postganglionic motor neurons Sensory neurons Interneurons Innervate muscularis mucosae and glands of GIT.

3. MUSCULARIS
Smooth muscle cells
spirally oriented divided into two sublayers.

Internal layer,
circular.

External layer,
longitudinal.

In the connective tissue between the muscle layers are blood and lymph vessels, as well as another autonomic myenteric nerve plexus (Auerbachs plexus). This and the submucosal plexus together comprise the local enteric nervous system.

4. SEROSA
Thin layer of loose C.T, rich in blood vessels, lymphatics, and adipose tissue, with a simple squamous covering epithelium (mesothelium). In the abdominal cavity, the serosa is continuous with the mesenteries and with the peritoneum. In places where the digestive tract is not suspended in a cavity but bound to other structures, such as in the esophagus, the serosa is replaced by a thick adventitia, consisting of C.T. containing vessels and nerves, lacking mesothelium.

MEDICAL APPLICATION
In certain diseases, such as Hirschsprung disease (congenital megacolon) or Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi infection), the plexuses in the digestive tract are severely injured and most of their neurons are destroyed. This results in disturbances of digestive tract motility, with frequent dilatations in some areas.

MEDICAL APPLICATION
HIRSCHSPRUNG DISEASE CHAGAS DISEASE (ACHLASIA)

ESOPHAGUS
the esophagus is a muscular tube whose function is to transport food from the mouth to the stomach. In general, the esophagus has the same major layers as the rest of the digestive tract.

HISTOLOGY OF ESOPHAGUS
1. Mucosa: It is lined by non-keratinized stratified squamous epithelium. lamina propria: loose areolar C.T. with scattered lymphatic tissue. In the upper and lower 1/3 of esophagus are present small mucus-secreting esophageal glands. Muscularis mucosae: thick, longitudinally running smooth muscle layer.

HISTOLOGY OF ESOPHAGUS
2. Submucosa: loose areolar C.T Meissners plexus Deep submucosal esophageal glands

HISTOLOGY OF ESOPHAGUS
3. muscularis: In the proximal third of the esophagus the muscularis is exclusively skeletal muscle. The middle third contains a combination of skeletal and smooth muscle fibers. in the distal third the muscularis contains only smooth muscle.

UPPER ESOPHAGUS

LOWER ESOPHAGUS

HISTOLOGY OF ESOPHAGUS
4. Adventitia (serosa): the most distal portion of the esophagus, in the peritoneal cavity, is covered by serosa. serosa: adventia + mesothelium The rest is enclosed by a layer of loose connective tissue, the adventitia (fibrosa), which blends into the surrounding tissue.