Your digestive juices are secretions in your gastrointestinal system that help your body to break down the nutrients in food for absorption in your small intestine. The active component of digestive juices in your stomach is hydrochloric acid, which achieves its effects in combination with a hormone called gastrin, protective mucus and a mucus secretion called pepsinogen.
The Basics
Your stomach performs three separate tasks in the process of food digestion, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. First, the upper muscular section of your stomach relaxes in the presence of food and provides a place for food storage. Next, muscles in your lower stomach mix your food with liquid and digestive juices. Finally, your stomach releases this mixed material for further breakdown and assimilation in your small intestine.
Gastrin
When food enters your stomach, it stimulates receptor cells that in turn send a message to a section of your brainstem called the medulla oblongata, according to the State University of New York, or SUNY. Your medulla oblongata then signals specialized endocrine cells in your stomach, which release a hormone called gastrin into your circulatory system. Once released, gastrin promotes the release of hydrochloric acid.
Hydrochloric Acid Production
Hydrochloric acid is produced in specialized cells in your stomach called parietal cells, according to Colorado State University. Once created, hydrochloric acid flows from your parietal cells to the interior surfaces of your stomach, where it mixes with food and other components of gastric juice. In addition to gastrin, the amount of hydrochloric acid in your stomach is regulated by local effects of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and the blood vessel dilator histamine.
Mucus and Pepsinogen
Mucus cells in the lining of your stomach produce a bicarbonate-containing coating that lubricates your stomach's inner surfaces and prevents hydrochloric acid from eating away stomach tissue, Colorado State explains. In addition, your mucus cells produce a substance called pepsinogen. In the presence of stomach acid, pepsinogen transforms into a digestive component called pepsin, which allows your body to begin the breakdown of food protein. In addition to mucus cells, pepsinogen is secreted into your stomach by cells called chief cells.
Considerations
In addition to the actual consumption of food, your stomach may begin producing gastric juices if you smell, see or think about food, SUNY reports. If your stomach contains significant amounts of the H. pylori bacteria, these bacteria may disrupt normal mucus production, leading to damage of your stomach lining from the digestive activities of pepsin. The product of this damage is commonly referred to as a peptic ulcer.
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