Question

Taenia coli are associated with
a. Small intestine
b. Stomach
c. Large intestine
d. Ileum part only

Answer 1

Hint: The Taenia coli are three separate longitudinal ribbons of smooth muscles on the outside of the ascending, transverse, descending and sigmoid colon. They are visible and can be seen below the serosa or fibrosa.

Complete answer:
Taenia coli associated with the large intestine. Taenia coli are the three bands of longitudinal smooth muscle on the colon surface. The colon is the largest portion of the large intestine. There are three types of taenia coli:
- Mesocolic taenia coli
- Free taenia coli
- Omental taenia coli

The taenia coli contract lengthwise to produce the haustra (singular haustrum). These are the small pouches caused by the sac formation, which gives the colon its segmented appearance. The taenia coli are regulated by the spinal cord, which is under the control of a parasympathetic nervous system.

> Small intestine: It is the organ in the GI tract where the most of the digestion and absorption of nutrients takes place.
Small intestine is divided into three parts:
- Duodenum: It is attached to the stomach.
- Jejunum: It is the middle region attached to the duodenum.
- Ileum: It is the last region that connects with the large intestine.
- Intestinal villi are the fingerlike projections formed by the mucosa and the Microvilli are the small projections on the villi to increase the surface area for absorption of minerals and nutrients.

> Large intestine: It is the organ in the GI tract where absorption of water and elimination of undigested material takes place.
Structure of the large intestine:
- Ileocecal valve: It is the entrance into the large intestine from the ileum.
- Cecum: saclike part of the large intestine.
- Appendix: In this part accumulation of lymph tissues takes place and it has no digestive function.
- Colon: Ascending, descending, transverse and sigmoid are the parts of the colon.
- Rectum and Anus.

> Stomach: It is a muscular organ located in the left side of the upper abdomen and functions as a vital digestive organ and it is involved in the second phase of digestion (first phase completes in mouth). It performs a chemical breakdown of food material due to presence of enzymes and HCl.

Hence, The correct answer is option (C).

Note: The name taenia coli is similar to taenia solium which is a pork tapeworm, it infects human beings whereas taenia coli is the three separate ribbons of longitudinal smooth muscles present in the large intestine.