Do you have the GUTS

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Do you have the GUTS!!??

• Laura Burch
• Rachel Porubek
• Brenna Schenkel
• Rachel Falk

Gastric Ulcers Tearing up your Stomach
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What are gastric ulcers?

• Cell damage and death as a result of conditions
  and erosion in the stomach
• May cause damage in blood vessels resulting in
  bleeding

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Relevance?

• Anatomy/Pathology of GI tract
• Positive feedback mechanism
• Tissue layers of GI tract
• Paracrine Regulation

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Causes of gastric ulcer

• Helicobacter Pylori
• High dose/ prolonged aspirin therapy
• Stress ?

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Helicobacter Pylori

• Flagellated corkscrew shaped bacteria that
  burrows into mucosa layer of the GI tract
• Causes 80 of gastric ulcers
• Bacteria is not killed by acids in stomach

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How does H. Pylori survive?

• Protein digestion in stomach releases a lot of
  urea (breakdown product of amino acids)
• The outer membrane of the bacteria is covered
  with enzymes called ureases
• Urease changes urea into CO2 and ammonia which is
  a base
• H. Pylori is protected from the acidic environment

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H. Pylori continued

• Damages mucosa layer causing acid to seep in and
  wreak havoc on neighboring cells
• Ulcer is formed
• H. Pylori can be transmitted through saliva,
  vomit and feces
• Can be treated with antibiotics

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High dose/prolonged aspirin therapy

• Prevents prostaglandin synthesis
• Prostaglandin is a paracrine message that
  inhibits acid synthesis and increases production
  of protective mucous
• High acid level and less protective mucous can
  aggravate ulcer

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Stress

• When under stress the Vagus nerve sends a message
  to the stomach to increase acid production
• Does not cause ulcers but only aggravates them
• Previous remedy was to cut the Vagus nerve!

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Positive feedback?

• Damage to the cells causes WBCs to be recruited
  to the area and histamine is released
• Surrounding cells increase acid production to
  compensate for the damaged cells
• Both these situations worsen the condition
• WBCs, histamine, and acid is increased again

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Analogy

• Your dog has fleas and you get a bite on your
  leg. (h-pylori)
• Scratching at the bite makes your skin more
  aggravated. (aspirin)
• Keeping your flea infested dog around causes you
  to get more bites. (dog is enzymes protecting
  h-pylori)
• Treating your dog with a flea bath kills the
  fleas and you have no more bites. (antibiotics)