Library · Physiology
Gastric acid
Make it clearer
Gastric acid is the corrosive fluid the stomach makes. Its main component is hydrochloric acid, and it is produced by the parietal cells of the stomach glands.
The odd part is that the acid does not come out ready made: hydrogen and chloride are secreted separately. Hydrogen is pushed out by a hydrogen potassium ATPase pump, a membrane machine that sits on the luminal side, the side facing the cavity of the stomach, and chloride leaves through its own channels.
Once together they do three things. They denature the proteins in food, meaning they unwind them so they are easier to cut. They convert pepsinogen, which is inactive, into pepsin, the enzyme that cuts those proteins. And they protect against potentially infectious agents that arrive with whatever you swallow.
Picture a vat of acid that breaks food down and, along the way, stops what came in with it.
In brief
The main component of gastric acid is hydrochloric acid, secreted by the parietal cells of the stomach glands.
Hydrogen and chloride are secreted separately: the hydrogen potassium ATPase pump sits on the luminal side of the parietal cell, and chloride leaves through its own channels.
That acid environment denatures proteins, converts pepsinogen into pepsin and protects against potentially infectious agents.
A vat of acid that breaks food down and stops what came in with it.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Stomach, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated