CorpusHuman Anatomy
DigestiveGland

Gastric glands

Glandulae gastricae

Also known as: oxyntic glands, fundic glands, gastric pits, foveolae gastricae

Gastric glands are simple branched tubular glands that open into the gastric pits. Their cell types secrete acid, intrinsic factor, pepsinogen, mucus and regulatory peptides.

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Overview

Each gastric pit (foveola) is lined by surface mucous cells and receives three to seven glands. A gland has an isthmus, where stem cells divide to replenish both surface and gland cells; a neck, with mucous neck cells and many parietal cells; and a base, rich in chief cells and enteroendocrine cells.

Gland composition differs by region. Cardiac glands next to the oesophagus are almost purely mucous. Oxyntic (fundic) glands in the fundus and body contain parietal, chief and ECL cells. Pyloric glands in the antrum are mucous and contain the G cells that make gastrin and the D cells that make somatostatin.

The surface mucous cells secrete a thick, adherent, alkaline mucus gel containing HCO₃⁻. This mucus–bicarbonate barrier keeps the pH next to the epithelium near neutral, even though the luminal pH is 1–2. Prostaglandin E₂ supports the barrier, which explains why NSAIDs injure it.

Parts & subdivisions

  1. Surface mucous cells
    Line the surface and pits. Secrete insoluble alkaline mucus and HCO₃⁻. Replaced every 3–6 days.
  2. Mucous neck cells
    In the gland neck. Secrete soluble, more acidic mucus. Closely related to the gland's progenitor cells.
  3. Parietal (oxyntic) cells
    Secrete HCl and intrinsic factor. Large, eosinophilic cells in the neck and body of oxyntic glands.
  4. Chief (zymogenic) cells
    Secrete pepsinogen and gastric lipase. Basophilic cells at the gland base.
  5. G cells
    Antral enteroendocrine cells that release gastrin into the blood in response to peptides, amino acids, distension and vagal GRP.
  6. ECL (enterochromaffin-like) cells
    In oxyntic glands. Release histamine onto parietal cells (H2 receptors) when stimulated by gastrin (CCK2 receptors) and ACh. This is the main way gastrin drives acid secretion.
  7. D cells
    Release somatostatin, which inhibits G, ECL and parietal cells. Stimulated by luminal acid, giving negative feedback.
  8. X/A-like cells
    Endocrine cells of the oxyntic mucosa that secrete ghrelin, the hunger hormone.

Anatomy

Histology

Simple branched tubular glands occupying the full thickness of the mucosa down to the muscularis mucosae. In oxyntic mucosa the pits are short (about a quarter of the depth) and the glands long. In pyloric mucosa the pits are deep and the glands short and coiled.

Function

  • Produce about 1.5–2 L of gastric juice a day.
  • Secrete acid and intrinsic factor (parietal cells) and proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes (chief cells).
  • Provide mucosal protection through mucus and bicarbonate.
  • Regulate gastric function through endocrine and paracrine signals (gastrin, histamine, somatostatin, ghrelin).

Clinical significance

Autoimmune atrophic gastritis and pernicious anaemia

Autoantibodies against parietal cells (H⁺/K⁺-ATPase) and intrinsic factor destroy the oxyntic mucosa of the body and fundus. The result is achlorhydria, B12 deficiency (megaloblastic anaemia and subacute combined degeneration of the cord) and very high gastrin levels. ECL hyperplasia follows, with a risk of carcinoid tumours and adenocarcinoma. H. pylori gastritis, by contrast, usually starts in the antrum.

Zollinger–Ellison syndrome

A gastrinoma, usually in the duodenum or pancreas within the "gastrinoma triangle", drives massive acid secretion. This causes multiple, refractory or atypically placed (jejunal) peptic ulcers and diarrhoea. About a quarter of cases are associated with MEN1.

Compiled from standard anatomy and physiology references — see the Digestive System sources. For education only; not medical advice.