Digestive enzyme


Digestive enzymes are a group of enzymes that break down polymeric macromolecules into their smaller building blocks, in order to facilitate their absorption by the body. Digestive enzymes are found in the digestive tracts of animals and in the tracts of carnivorous plants, where they aid in the digestion of food, as well as inside cells, especially in their lysosomes, where they function to maintain cellular survival. Digestive enzymes of diverse specificities are found in the saliva secreted by the salivary glands, in the secretions of cells lining the stomach, in the pancreatic juice secreted by pancreatic exocrine cells, and in the secretions of cells lining the small and large intestines.
Digestive enzymes are classified based on their target substrates:
In the human digestive system, the main sites of digestion are the oral cavity, the stomach, and the small intestine. Digestive enzymes are secreted by different exocrine glands including:
Complex food substances that are taken by animals and humans must be broken down into simple, soluble, and diffusible substances before they can be absorbed. In the oral cavity, salivary glands secrete an array of enzymes and substances that aid in digestion and also disinfection. They include the following:
Of note is the diversity of the salivary glands. There are two types of salivary glands:
The enzymes that are secreted in the stomach are gastric enzymes. The stomach plays a major role in digestion, both in a mechanical sense by mixing and crushing the food, and also in an enzymatic sense, by digesting it. The following are enzymes produced by the stomach and their respective function:
Hormones or compounds produced by the stomach and their respective function:
Of note is the division of function between the cells covering the stomach. There are four types of cells in the stomach:
Secretion by the previous cells is controlled by the enteric nervous system. Distention in the stomach or innervation by the vagus nerve activates the ENS, in turn leading to the release of acetylcholine. Once present, acetylcholine activates G cells and parietal cells.

Pancreas

Pancreas is both an endocrine and an exocrine gland, in that it functions to produce endocrinic hormones released into the circulatory system, to control glucose metabolism, and also to secrete digestive/exocrinic pancreatic juice, which is secreted eventually via the pancreatic duct into the duodenum. Digestive or exocrine function of pancreas is as significant to the maintenance of health as its endocrine function.
Two of the population of cells in the pancreatic parenchyma make up its digestive enzymes:
Pancreatic juice, composed of the secretions of both ductal and acinar cells, contains the following digestive enzymes:
Some of the preceding endogenous enzymes have pharmaceutical counterparts that are administered to people with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
The pancreas's exocrine function owes part of its notable reliability to biofeedback mechanisms controlling secretion of the juice. The following significant pancreatic biofeedback mechanisms are essential to the maintenance of pancreatic juice balance/production:
The following enzymes/hormones are produced in the duodenum:
Throughout the lining of the small intestine there are numerous brush border enzymes whose function is to further break down the chyme released from the stomach into absorbable particles. These enzymes are absorbed whilst peristalsis occurs. Some of these enzymes include:
In carnivorous plants digestive enzymes and acids break down insects and in some plants small animals. In some plants the leaf collapses on the prey to increase contact, others have a small vessel of digestive liquid. Then digestion fluids are used to digest the prey to get at the needed nitrates and phosphorus. The absorption of the needed nutrients are usually more efficient than in other plants. Digestive enzymes independently came about in carnivorous plants and animals.
Some carnivorous plants, like the Heliamphora do not use digestive enzymes, but use bacteria to break down the food. These plants do not have digestive juices, but use the rot of the prey.
Some carnivorous plants digestive enzymes: