Gastric mucus and the gastric mucosal barrier

Gastric mucus and the gastric mucosal barrier

The gastric mucous layer is essential to the integrity of the gastric mucosa. It is a viscid layer of mucopolysaccharides produced by the mucus-producing cells of the stomach and the pyloric glands. Gastric mucus is an important physiolog ical barrier that protects the gastric mucosa from mechan ical damage and also the e ff ects of acid and pepsin. It has considerable bu ff ering capacity , enhanced by the presence of bicarbonate ions within the mucus. Many factors can lead to the breakdown of this gastric mucous barrier . These include bile, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), alcohol, trauma and shock. Tonometry studies have shown that, of the entire gastrointestinal tract, the stomach is the most sensitive to ischaemia following a hypovolaemic insult and also the slowest to recover. This may explain the high incidence of stress ulcer ation in the stomach.