Stomach - Malley Flashcards
What is helicobacter pylori?
Can you describe it?
Bacteria that colonizes gastric epithelium
Spiral shaped, microaerophilic, gram negative
Broadly: What functions are served by the stomach?
Store and digest food,
optimize absorption,
expel indigestible and toxic matter,
defend from pathogens,
and alert the body to dysfunction.
What motor functions are served by the proximal and distal stomach?
Proximal: Expand to accommodate large volumes of food
Distal: Undergo weak contractions to push food into the antrum and against the pylorus.
Muscle activity in the stomach is tonic; describe the baseline activity and its pacemaker.
Slow wave activity is mediated by the interstitial cells of cajal, and occur about 3/min.
How does the pylorus distinguish between liquid and (large) solid food?
How does it contribute to digestion?
The sphincter is mostly shut, acting as a sieve to block the egress of large solid matter. Liquid or small solid food can pass.
Large food that is blocked is retropelled to the antrum; this repeated grinding is known as triturition and will eventually break down the food into liquid or small solid chunks.
How do the duodenum and small intestine influence the rate of gastric emptying?
Receptors for specific nutrients, acidity, and distension feedback along neural and hormonal pathways to slow gastric emptying; resulting in a delivery of 1-4kcal per minute.
Each of the following factors slows gastric emptying. Name the origin and stimulus for secretion for each.
Secretin
Somatostatin
Cholecystokinin
Secretin released by the duodenum in response to lipids, amino acids, or acid.
Somatostatin released from intestines (actually many sites) in response to amino acids or acid.
Cholecystokinin released from duodenum in response to lipids (longer chain = greater response).
How is H. pylori diagnosed?
Endoscope biopsy
Urea breath testing
Stool antigen testing
Serology (false positive after treatments)
(False negative on all above with PPI or Abx)
What is the only discussed humoral factor that promotes gastric emptying?
**Ghrelin **(the “hunger hormone”); it also induces the onset of the migrating motor complex.
How does the stomach respond to each of the following:
Non-caloric liquids (eg water)
Solid foods (eg POTATO DUMPLINGS)
Indigesible matter (eg marbles)
Non-caloric liquids are cleared quickly (no humoral feedback as no nutrients are delivered; liquid also passes sieve)
Solid foods are cleared slowly (triturition takes hours)
Indigestible matter is only cleared by MMCs when all other food has been cleared (effectively fasting).
What is atrophic metaplastic gastritis? What subtypes are there?
Destruction of mucosa and metaplasm from the resulting damage
Type A hits the body and fundus of the stomach and is autoimmune
Type B hits the antrum and is typically caused by H pylori
Describe the method and application of gastric empting scintigraphy.
Consumption of radiolabeled food or drink allows for monitoring of the rate of gastric emptying, and is useful in diagnosing motor disorders eg Gastroparesis.
What is NSAID gastric toxicity?
COX-1 inhibition reduces blood flow and oxygen delivery, limiting secretion and proliferation of epithelial cells. This results in mucosal damage.
What is contraction failure, and what are its consequences?
Failure of the stomach to properly churn and/or clear its contents.
Delivery to the intestines is delayed, gastric contents are retained and cause pain, bloating, early satiety, N/V, and poor drug delivery.
What is accomodation failure? What are its symptoms?
Failure of the stomach to expand sufficiently, usually resulting in inappropriate clearance of contents.
Causes pain/bloating, early satiety, N/V, weight loss.
There are many consequences to accomodation failure. Try to name them and why they occur.
- Small bowel distention causes discomfort (bloating/pain)
- Fluid shifting from the vascular compartment causes hypotension
- Digestion and absorption become discoordinated (weight loss, nutrient deficiencies)
- Unabsorbed food reaches the colonic flora (flatus, diarrhea, cramps)
- Humoral responses become disregulated (post-prandial hypoglycemia)
- Too much unbuffered acid reaches the duodenum (ulceration, destruction of pancreatic enzymes causing maldigestion)
What are symptoms of an ulcer?
- epigastric pain (worse with meals if gastric, 2-3 hours post-prandial if duodenal)
- perforation
- nausea
- anorexia/weight loss
- B12/Iron deficiency
- pancreatitis
- blood in vomit, stool
- vomitting or diarrhea
Define gastroparesis and name its symptoms. How is it diagnosed?
Delayed gastric emptying; patients report early satiety, bloating, abdominal pain, and N/V.
It is diagnosed by symptomology, gastric emptying tests, and exclusion of obstruction.
How can gastroparesis occur in someone with intact motor and neural structures?
(non-pharmacological)
- Hypokalemia
- Hyperglycemia
- Uremia
- Hypothyroidism
- Mesenteric Ischemia
- Cortical effects (stress, motion sickness)
What drugs can delay gastric emptying?
- Anti-cholinergics
- painkillers (opiate or NSAID)
- pramlintide (amylin analog)
- exenatide (GLP-1 agonist)
- cyclosporine?
What motor abnormalities can cause gastroparesis?
- Pyloric stenosis
- Visceral myopathies
- Connective tissue diseases (scleroderma)
- Gastric resection
- Fundoplication wrap (eg for acid reflux)
What neural disorders can cause gastroparesis?
- Parkinson’s disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Amyloidosis
- Viral infection
- Auto-immune diseases
- Hereditary neuropathies
- Paraneoplastic syndrromes
- Trauma
Injury to the vagal nerve usually occurs in the context of surgical trauma. What effect does this have on gastric emptying?
Poor accommodation means liquids empty more rapidly (not stored much).
Poor grinding means solids empty more slowly.
What causes visceral hypersensitivity?
What are its symptoms?
Stress, anxiety, and depression seem to contribute, but the mechanism is unknown.
Increased post-prandial pain in the absence of an ulcer. More pain with distention or acid.
How does Diabetes affect gastric emptying?
Diabetes mellitus causes damage mainly to neural structures (enteric neurons, cajal) but the hyperglycemia also reduces gasric emptying.
Vagal outflow is dysfunctional. (gastric emptying may increase or decrease)
How does gastric adenocarcinoma present grossly?
very diverse
- ulcer
- mass
- ulcerated mass
- linitis plastica
What causes damage in H**elicobacter pylori infections?
The immune response:
neutrophilic infiltration as well as lymphocyte, plasma cell, and macrophage activation cause tissue damage.
What is the virulence factor in Helicobacter pylori that can cause more intense damage?
CagA (cytotoxin associated gene A)
What happens during the early stage of H. pylori gastritis?
- H. pylori infection is contained in the antrum
- H. pylori inhibits somatostatin secretion
- Decreased somatostatin leads to increased acid
- Duodenal ulcers form b/c of increased acid
What happens during the later stages of H. pylori gastritis?
- H. pylori spreads to corpus and fundus
- Parietal cells are destroyed
- Ulcers develop in stomach