The course aims to provide knowledge about:

1. the physiology of the human digestive function and of the systems that regulate it in physiological conditions;

2. the neural circuits and mechanisms involved in energy homeostasis and body weight regulation.

The program includes the following topics, listed in the order as they will be presented during the course:

1. Gastrointestinal system

Morpho-functional characteristics: structure of the gastrointestinal tract wall; gastrointestinal blood flow; innervation: enteric nervous system, parasympathetic and sympathetic innervation, reflex activity; endocrine cells/glands and gastrointestinal hormones.

Motility functions: smooth muscle cells, electrical and mechanical activity, propulsion movements - peristalsis - and stirring, chewing, swallowing, esophageal motility, gastric motility, motility of the small and large intestine, defecation.

Secretory functions: salivary secretion, esophageal secretion, gastric secretion, pancreatic secretion, biliary secretion, intestinal secretion.

Digestion and absorption functions: digestion and absorption of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids; absorption of water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins; absorption of water and electrolytes; absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, iodine, copper, selenium, zinc.

Nervous and hormonal control of gastrointestinal functions.

2. Elements of mucosal defense physiology

Gastrointestinal epithelial cells; cellular and molecular bases for antigenic transport of the intestinal epithelium; immunocompetent cells of the gastrointestinal mucosa; lymphoid tissue associated with the intestine; innate mucosal immunity; adaptive mucosal immunity; antigen-specific immune responses; endocrine regulation of mucosal immunity.

3. Central control of food intake

The central homeostatic circuits: hypothalamus; dopaminergic system of the "reward"; serotonergic system.

Short-term and long-term nervous and hormonal regulation of food intake and body weight. Gut-brain axis.

No bridging courses are reported.

According to Dublin descriptors, at the end of the course and for passing the exam, students are expected to fulfill the following requirements:

D1- KNOWLEDGE AND CAPACITY OF UNDERSTANDING: to possess good knowledge and understanding of the nutrition physiology topics, so as to be able to set a logical and complete discussion about theoretical aspects of the discipline, being also able to make connections among the treated topics;

D2- CAPACITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: to apply the acquired knowledge to the discussion of different issues within the nutrition physiology;

D3- JUDGEMENT AUTONOMY: to have acquired autonomy in the application of knowledge, making independent decisions and choices in the face of different aspects inherent nutrition physiology;

D4- COMMUNICATION  SKILLS: to be able to communicate, clearly and comprehensively, the acquired knowledge, exposing with language property and scientific terms, elaborating an autonomous thinking using the provided information about the diverse issues presented during the course;

D5- LEARNING ABILITY: to have reached a good level of learning capacity, not only in terms of ability to memorize/retrieve the information studied, but also in terms of ability to elaborate original thoughts about the diverse issues presented during the course.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

There will be a hands-on lab experience.

Teaching

Lectures.

Innovative teaching methods

Flipped classroom: discussion in dedicated lessons of additional material in English (scientific publications) on one of the topics described in the program and presented by Students divided into groups.

Attendance

Class attendance is recommended.

Students need to have adequate knowledge of cellular physiology.

Course books

In alternative:

- Guyton and Hall, Textbook of Medical Physiology,Thirteenth Edition, 2020, Elsevier

- Berne & Levy, Physiology, Seventh Edition, 2018, Elsevier Inc.

In addition to the textbook, pdfs of scientific articles on a specific topic of the program will be provided. Link to pdfs will be available on the Moodle platform within the presentations made on the topic by the Student groups.

Assessment

Oral exam addressed to monitor compliance with Dublin Descriptor requirements. The exam consists of 3 questions throughout the course program topics. Particular attention is paid to the verification of: the student's ability to make connections among the topics; the student's ability to expose the acquired knowledge with language property and scientific terms. The final grade is awarded out of thirty.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

The program and teaching materials are the same for both attending and non attending students.

Attendance

Students need to have adequate knowledge of cellular physiology.

Course books

In alternative:

- Guyton and Hall, Textbook of Medical Physiology,Thirteenth Edition, 2020, Elsevier

- Berne & Levy, Physiology, Seventh Edition, 2018, Elsevier Inc.

In addition to the textbook, pdfs of scientific articles on a specific topic of the program will be provided. The pdfs will be available on the Moodle platform within the presentations made on the topic by the Student groups.

Assessment

Oral exam addressed to monitor compliance with Dublin Descriptor requirements. The exam consists of 3 questions throughout the course program topics. Particular attention is paid to the verification of: the student's ability to make connections among the topics; the student's ability to expose the acquired knowledge with language property and scientific terms. The final grade is awarded out of thirty.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.