• GASTRIC SECRETIONS

• MUCUS
• ACID
• PROTEASES
• HORMONES
• ENZYMES
GASTRIC SECRETIONS

 The digestive secretions of the gastric glands in the stomach,

consisting mainly of pepsin, hydrochloric acid, rennin, and
mucin.
 The secretion of gastric juice is controlled by both nerves
and hormones. Stimuli in the brain, stomach, and small in-
testine activate or inhibit gastric juice production.
MUCUS

 It is a gel-mucous barrier secreted by epithelial cells

and glandular cells in the stomach wall. It acts as part
of a barrier that protects the stomach wall from the acid
and digestive enzymes within the stomach lumen.
 This barrier is also made up of a bicarbonate secretion
and the epithelial cells themselves, which are tightly
joined together. Together, these components prevent the
stomach from effectively digesting itself.
 It is mainly secreted from foveolar cells, found in the
necks of the gastric pits. Mucus-secreting cells are the
most abundant cell type in the stomach, giving indi-
cations of how important mucus is to the functioning
stomach.
ACID

 Hydrochloric acid it was secreted from parietal

cells into the lumen where it establishes an
extremely acidic environment. This acid is
important for activation of pepsinogen and
inactivation of ingested microorganisms such
as bacteria.
PROTEASES
 Proteases are released by the pancreas into the proximal
small intestine, where they mix with proteins already
denatured by gastric secretions and break them down
into amino acids, the building blocks of protein, which
will eventually be absorbed and used throughout the
body.
 It is responsible for the primary breakdown of proteins
and polypeptides from animals and plants and for proline
dipeptides from gluten and casein.
HORMONES

 Are chemical messengers that are secreted directly

into the blood, which carries them to organs and
tissues of the body to exert their functions.
 The principal hormone secreted from the gastric
epithelium is gastrin, a peptide that is important in
control of acid secretion and gastric motility.
ENZYMES

 Are indispensable for signal transduction and cell

regulation, often via kinases and phosphatases.
Viruses can also contain enzymes for infecting cells,
such as the HIV integrase and reverse transcriptase,
or for viral release from cells, like the influenza
virus neuraminidase.
 A number of enzymes are secreted by gastric epithe-
lial cells including lipase and gelatinase.