Physiology

It is the study of the mechanical,

physical and biochemical functions of
living organisms.
Digestive system
Nutrition
It is the study of food and
feeding.
 Food
It is any substance that can be eaten or drunk & it is
necessary for:

1- Growth & replace the worn tissues,

2- The maintenance of life, and
3- Its oxidation provides the energy needed
for vital activities

Classes of nutrients:
1- Carbohydrates.
2- Lipids.
3- Proteins.
4- Vitamins.
5- Minerals.
6- Water.
I-Carbohydrates (sugars and starches)

General formula CnH2nOn

They are classified into:

A- Monosaccharides (simple sugar):
* Cannot be broken down to simpler sugars by
hydrolysis.
* There is more than 200 monosaccharides.
Monosaccharides are classified according to the
type of keto group they contain into:
1- Aldose, Which contains aldehyde group
(-CHO).
2- Ketose, Which contains ketone group (-C=O).
Also, monosaccharides are classified according to
the number of carbon atoms they contain into:
1- Trioses: (have 3 carbon atoms) e.g. glyceraldehyde
(aldotriose) & dihydroxyacetone (ketotriose). Trioses are
important in respiration.
2- Tetroses: (have 4 carbon atoms) e.g. erythrose & threose
(aldotetrose) and erythrulose (ketotetroses).

3- Pentoses: (have 5 carbon atoms) e.g. ribose, arabinose,

xylose & lyxose (aldopentoses) ribulose & xylulose
(ketopenoses).
4- Hexoses: (have 6 carbon atoms) e.g. glucose (dextrose)
(blood sugar), galactose, mannose, allose, altrose, gulose,
idose & talose (aldohexoses) fructose, psicose, sorbose &
tagatose (ketohexoses).
 5- Heptoses: (have 7 carbon atoms) e.g. sedoheptulose &
mannoheptulose (Ketoheptoses).
Notes:
* Fructose (fruit sugar) (levulose) is the sweetest simple
sugar.
* Galactose does not exist freely in nature; rather, it
combines with glucose to form milk sugar in the mammary
glands of lactating animals.
B- Disaccharides:
It is formed when two monosaccharides are joined together
via a dehydration reaction (condensation reaction) that
leads to the loss of one molecule of water and the
formation of the glycosidic bond.
 For example:
Lactose (milk sugar) which is made from glucose and
galactose. It is the only sugar which does not found in
plants but exists in natural form only in milk as milk sugar.

Sucrose (cane sugar, table sugar) is made from glucose and

fructose.
Maltose (malt sugar) which is made from 2 molecules of
glucose joined with an α(1→4) linkage.
Also, trehalose is formed from two glucose units joined
α(1→1) linkage.
Also, cellobiose is composed of 2 glucose units linked by
β(1→4) linkage.
C- Oligosaccharides & polysaccharides :
Confussion between them.
Oligosaccharide contains 3-6 monosaccharide units, whereas a polysaccharide is composed
of more than six reaching to 10,000 monosaccharide units .

Oligosaccharides are found rarely in nature while polysaccharides

are more common.
Cellulose: It is composed of numerous glucose units. Humans and pigs
cannot digest cellulose. However cattle and horses (and other
ruminants) can, by a symbiotic relationship with bacteria in their
stomachs.
Starch and glycogen are also glucose polysaccharides. The first of
these polysaccharides is found primarily in the stems, roots and
seeds of plants. As for glycogen is stored in animal tissues e.g.
muscle and liver tissues.
 Note:
Cellulose, starch & glycogen (+ inulin & mannan) are
polysaccharides formed from hexoses while araban &
xylan are polysaccharides formed from pentoses.
On the other hand agar, pectin & chitin are formed from
mixed hexoses and pentoses.
 II-Lipids
They are classified into:
A- Simple lipids:
They Hydrolyzed into an alcohol and fatty acids.
They divided into:
1- Triglycerides (triacylglycerols) ( fats and oils):
They are esters of 3 molecules fatty acids with one molecule
glycerol. They comprises both fats and oils.
The main difference between a fat and an oil is that:
A fat is solid at room temperature (due to a high proportions
of saturated fatty acids)
While an oil is liquid (due to a high proportions of
unsaturated fatty acids).
2- Waxes:
They are esters of fatty acids with higher monohydric
alcohol, e.g., cholesterol, vitamin A and vitamin D
Examples are beeswax, lanolin and carnauba wax.
B- Compound (complex) lipids:
They give a complex mixture of products during hydrolysis.
They comprises:
1- Phospholipids (phosphatides): They divided into:
i) Phosphoglycerides: Contains a glycerol joined to two fatty acids (ester
bonds) while the 3rd OH of glycerol forms an ester bond with a phosphate
group (phosphoric acid). The phosphate moiety of the resulting
phosphatidic acid is further esterified with an amino alcohol (a nitrogen
containing compound) such as ethanolamine, choline or serine.
.
Examples are phosphatidyl choline (lecithins), phosphatidyl
ethanolamine (cephalin), phosphatidyl serine ...etc..
Note
If the amino alcohol is missing the compound is called a
phosphatidic acid.

ii) Sphingomyelins:
They are similar to phosphoglycerides in containing
sphingosine and no glcerol.

Note: A fatty acid is attached in amide linkage to sphingosine

forming what is known as ceramide.
 2. Glycolipids:
They hydrolyzed into sphingosine, fatty acids and a
carbohydrate (sugar).
e.g. Cerebrosides:
where the sugar is either:
* Galactose forming galactocerebrosides which predominate
in nervous tissue.
* Glucose forming glucocerebrosides which predominate in
extraneural (nonneural) tissue.
Also, globosides & gangliosides are basically similar to
cerebrosides except the sugar unit is a small oligosaccharide.
Globoside does not include a sialic acid while gangliosides
contain sialic acid
Note: Glycolipids + sphingomyelin = sphingolipids.
 3) lipoproteins:
These are lipids forming complexes with proteins. They
include the plasma lipoproteins and the lipoproteins of the
cell membranes.
C) Derived lipids:
They comprises:
*fatty acids,
*alchols (glycerols, sphingosines, sterols, vitamins A & D)
and
*some substances associated with lipids in nature such as
hydrocarbons, steroids, ... etc
 Steroids
Compounds that contain the steroid
nucleus. A fused ring system consisting
of 17 carbons (3 cyclohexanes and 1 `
cyclopentane)
Steroids include cholesterol. Steroids are secreted by the
testes and ovaries (testosterone, progesterone and estrogen
or estradiol), the adrenal cortex (mineralocrticoid e.g.
aldosterone and glucocortinoid as cortisol and cortisone)
and the placenta.
Natural or synthetic steroids are used in oral contraceptives.
Anabolic hormones, male hormones given to build up
strength in seriously ill patients, have been abused by
bodybuilders and athletes in an attempt to increase muscle
mass and strength
 III- Proteins
Proteins are organic compounds that contain nitrogen in
addition to carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The subunits
of proteins are called amino acids. There are 20 different
amino acids. All amino acids have a carboxyl group (-
COOH) and an amino group (-NH2).
A peptide bondis formed when the carboxyl group of one
amino acid is linked with the amino groups of adjacent
amino acids with the elimination of a H2O molecule.
Peptides containing 2 amino acids are dipeptides, those with
3 amino acids are tripeptides, ... etc. In general, peptides
with more than 10 amino acids are called polypeptides.
The sequence of amino acids in a protein is defined by a
gene and encoded in the genetic code.
There are two types of amino acids:
1- Essential amino acids e.g. leucine, lysine, methionine,
isoleucine, valine and
2- Nonessential amino acids .
Our body can make nonessential amino acids, but it can not
make essential amino acids, so, we must eat them.
There are three main types of protein:

A) Simple proteins:
They give on hydrolysis amino acids only. They include
histones, albumins, globulins, ... etc.
B) Conjugated protein:
They are composed of a protein part, the apoprotein, and a
non-protein part, the prosthetic group.
They include phosphoproteins, lipoproteins, glycoproteins,
metalloproteins, nucleoproteins, hemoproteins, ...etc.

C) Derived proteins:
Which are decomposition products of proteins.
They include:
*Primary protein derivatives such denaturated proteins and
coagulated proteins (without hydrolysis).
*Secondary protein derivatives such proteoses, peptones
polypeptides, small peptides, ...etc (with hydrolysis).
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