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The gastrointestinal wall of the gastrointestinal tract is made up of four layers of specialised tissue. From the inner cavity of the gut (the lumen) outwards, these are the mucosa, the submucosa, the muscular layer and the serosa or adventitia. The mucosa is the innermost layer of the gastrointestinal tract.
Diagram of the alkaline mucous layer in the stomach with mucosal defense mechanisms. The gastric mucosa is the mucous membrane layer of the stomach, which contains the gastric pits, to which the gastric glands empty. In humans, it is about one mm thick, and its surface is smooth, soft, and velvety.
Pepsin is a protease that can digest and damage stomach cells. To prevent these disastrous effects, mucus and bicarbonate ions (HCO 3 −) are secreted by the foveolar cells. The mucus allows the acid at pH above 4 to penetrate lining, but below pH 4 (i.e. when acid is more concentrated) the acid cannot penetrate the mucus.
The gastric mucosal barrier is the property of the stomach that allows it to safely contain the gastric acid required for digestion. If the barrier is broken, as by acetylsalicylic acid (ASA, aspirin) in acid solution, acid diffuses back into the mucosa where it can cause damage to the stomach itself.
The inner part of the stomach wall is the gastric mucosa a mucous membrane that forms the lining of the stomach. the membrane consists of an outer layer of columnar epithelium, a lamina propria, and a thin layer of smooth muscle called the muscularis mucosa. Beneath the mucosa lies the submucosa, consisting of fibrous connective tissue. [19]
The gastric folds (or gastric rugae) are coiled sections of tissue that exist in the mucosal and submucosal layers of the stomach. [1] 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. [2]
Gastric erosion occurs when the mucous membrane lining the stomach becomes inflamed. Specifically, the term "erosion" in this context means damage that is limited to the mucosa, which consists of three distinct layers: the epithelium (in the case of a healthy stomach, this is non-ciliated simple columnar epithelium), the basement membrane, and the lamina propria.
The gastric glands open into gastric pits in the mucosa. The gastric mucosa is covered in surface mucous cells that produce the mucus necessary to protect the stomach's epithelial lining from gastric acid secreted by parietal cells in the glands, and from pepsin, a secreted digestive enzyme. Surface mucous cells follow the indentations and ...