Related Research Articles
The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The stomach has a dilated structure and functions as a vital organ in the digestive system. The stomach is involved in the gastric phase of digestion, following chewing. It performs a chemical breakdown by means of enzymes and hydrochloric acid.
Peptic ulcer disease (PUD) is a break in the inner lining of the stomach, the first part of the small intestine, or sometimes the lower esophagus. An ulcer in the stomach is called a gastric ulcer, while one in the first part of the intestines is a duodenal ulcer. The most common symptoms of a duodenal ulcer are waking at night with upper abdominal pain, and upper abdominal pain that improves with eating. With a gastric ulcer, the pain may worsen with eating. The pain is often described as a burning or dull ache. Other symptoms include belching, vomiting, weight loss, or poor appetite. About a third of older people have no symptoms. Complications may include bleeding, perforation, and blockage of the stomach. Bleeding occurs in as many as 15% of cases.
A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs. It consists of one or more layers of epithelial cells overlying a layer of loose connective tissue. It is mostly of endodermal origin and is continuous with the skin at body openings such as the eyes, eyelids, ears, inside the nose, inside the mouth, lips, the genital areas, the urethral opening and the anus. Some mucous membranes secrete mucus, a thick protective fluid. The function of the membrane is to stop pathogens and dirt from entering the body and to prevent bodily tissues from becoming dehydrated.
The gastrointestinal tract is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and other animals, including the esophagus, stomach, and intestines. Food taken in through the mouth is digested to extract nutrients and absorb energy, and the waste expelled at the anus as feces. Gastrointestinal is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the stomach and intestines.
Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID), also known as disorders of gut–brain interaction, include a number of separate idiopathic disorders which affect different parts of the gastrointestinal tract and involve visceral hypersensitivity and motility disturbances.
Gastritis is inflammation of the lining of the stomach. It may occur as a short episode or may be of a long duration. There may be no symptoms but, when symptoms are present, the most common is upper abdominal pain. Other possible symptoms include nausea and vomiting, bloating, loss of appetite and heartburn. Complications may include stomach bleeding, stomach ulcers, and stomach tumors. When due to autoimmune problems, low red blood cells due to not enough vitamin B12 may occur, a condition known as pernicious anemia.
Gastrointestinal perforation, also known as ruptured bowel, is a hole in the wall of part of the gastrointestinal tract. The gastrointestinal tract includes the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine. Symptoms include severe abdominal pain and tenderness. When the hole is in the stomach or early part of the small intestine, the onset of pain is typically sudden while with a hole in the large intestine onset may be more gradual. The pain is usually constant in nature. Sepsis, with an increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, fever, and confusion may occur.
Primary gastric lymphoma is an uncommon condition, accounting for less than 15% of gastric malignancies and about 2% of all lymphomas. However, the stomach is a very common extranodal site for lymphomas. It is also the most common source of lymphomas in the gastrointestinal tract.
Ménétrier disease is a rare, acquired, premalignant disease of the stomach characterized by massive gastric folds, excessive mucous production with resultant protein loss, and little or no acid production. The disorder is associated with excessive secretion of transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-α). It is named after a French physician Pierre Eugène Ménétrier, 1859–1935.
A gastric chief cell is a type of gastric gland cell that releases pepsinogen and gastric lipase. It is the cell responsible for secretion of chymosin in ruminant animals. The cell stains basophilic upon H&E staining due to the large proportion of rough endoplasmic reticulum in its cytoplasm. Gastric chief cells are generally located deep in the mucosal layer of the stomach lining, in the fundus and body of the stomach.
The gastric mucosal barrier is the property of the stomach that allows it to safely contain the gastric acid required for digestion.
A stress ulcer is a single or multiple mucosal defect usually caused by physiological stress which can become complicated by upper gastrointestinal bleeding. This ulcers can be caused by shock, sepsis, trauma or other conditions and are found in patients with chronic illnesses. These ulcers are a significant issue in patients in critical and intensive care.
Portal hypertensive gastropathy refers to changes in the mucosa of the stomach in patients with portal hypertension; by far the most common cause of this is cirrhosis of the liver. These changes in the mucosa include friability of the mucosa and the presence of ectatic blood vessels at the surface. Patients with portal hypertensive gastropathy may experience bleeding from the stomach, which may uncommonly manifest itself in vomiting blood or melena; however, portal hypertension may cause several other more common sources of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, such as esophageal varices and gastric varices. On endoscopic evaluation of the stomach, this condition shows a characteristic mosaic or "snake-skin" appearance to the mucosa of the stomach.
Foveolar cells or surface mucouscells are mucus-producing cells which cover the inside of the stomach, protecting it from the corrosive nature of gastric acid. These cells line the gastric mucosa. The mucus-secreting cells of the stomach can be distinguished histologically from the intestinal goblet cells, another type of mucus-secreting cell.
Lafutidine (INN) is a second generation histamine H2 receptor antagonist having multimodal mechanism of action and used to treat gastrointestinal disorders. It is marketed in South Korea, Japan and India.
Troxipide is a drug used in the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Troxipide is a systemic non-antisecretory gastric cytoprotective agent with anti-ulcer, anti-inflammatory and mucus secreting properties irrespective of pH of stomach or duodenum. Troxipide is currently marketed in Japan (Aplace), China (Shuqi), South Korea (Defensa), and India (Troxip). It is used for the management of gastric ulcers, and amelioration of gastric mucosal lesions in acute gastritis and acute exacerbation of chronic gastritis.
The gastric folds are coiled sections of tissue that exist in the mucosal and submucosal layers of the stomach. They provide elasticity by allowing the stomach to expand when a bolus enters it. These folds stretch outward through the action of mechanoreceptors, which respond to the increase in pressure. This allows the stomach to expand, therefore increasing the volume of the stomach without increasing pressure. They also provide the stomach with an increased surface area for nutrient absorption during digestion. Gastric folds may be seen during esophagogastroduodenoscopy or in radiological studies.
Cinitapride (trade names Cintapro, Pemix) is a gastroprokinetic agent and antiemetic agent of the benzamide class which is marketed in India, Mexico, Pakistan and Spain. It acts as an agonist of the 5-HT1 and 5-HT4 receptors and as an antagonist of the 5-HT2 receptors.
The intestinal mucosal barrier, also referred to as intestinal barrier, refers to the property of the intestinal mucosa that ensures adequate containment of undesirable luminal contents within the intestine while preserving the ability to absorb nutrients. The separation it provides between the body and the gut prevents the uncontrolled translocation of luminal contents into the body proper. Its role in protecting the mucosal tissues and circulatory system from exposure to pro-inflammatory molecules, such as microorganisms, toxins, and antigens is vital for the maintenance of health and well-being. Intestinal mucosal barrier dysfunction has been implicated in numerous health conditions such as: food allergies, microbial infections, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetes, and septic shock.
Zinc L-carnosine, often simply called zinc carnosine, and also known as polaprezinc, is a mucosal protective chelate compound of zinc and L-carnosine invented by Hamari Chemicals, Ltd. It is a quadridentate 1:1 complex of a polymeric nature. Although it contains 23% zinc and 77% L-carnosine by mass, zinc carnosine is a molecule and not a mixture of zinc and L-carnosine.
References
- ↑ Yanaka, Akinori; Hideo Suzuki; Takeshi Shibahara; Hirofumi Matsui; Akira Nakahara; Naomi Tanaka (21 December 2001). "EGF promotes gastric mucosal restitution by activating Na+/H+ exchange of epithelial cells". AJP - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.
- ↑ Bowen, R. (4 November 2001). "The Gastrointestinal Barrier". arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu.
 | This human digestive system article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |