Question

What will happen if mucus is not secreted by the gastric glands?

Answer 1

The gastric glands are tubular glands that are present in mucosa of the stomach. The gastric glands secrete mucus and digestive juices. Gastric glands are divided into three based on its location and type of secretion. They are cardiac gastric glands, intermediate gastric glands and pyloric gastric glands. The mucus secreted by the gastric glands has a very important function during digestion.

Complete explanation:
Gastric mucus is a gel-like substance secreted by epithelial cells and glandular cells of the stomach wall. It acts as a barrier between the stomach lumen's digestive enzymes and acid and the stomach wall. This barrier is also made up of epithelial cells themselves, which are tightly packed together. The epithelial cells along with mucus prevent the stomach from digesting itself.
If there is no mucus secreted by the epithelial cells there will be no barrier protecting the stomach from strong acids and digestive enzymes. Ultimately the wall of the stomach gets ruptured and digested by the acids. Hence gastric mucus plays an important role in the human body.
Gastric mucus is also secreted from foveolar cells, found in the necks of the gastric pits. The most abundant cell type in the stomach are mucus secreting cells which indicates the importance of mucus in the functioning of the stomach.

Note:
The mucus is made up of $95\%$ water and $5\%$ polymers that give the mucus its gel-like viscosity. The viscosity of mucus is altered by the rate of secretion from glandular cells or rate of breakdown by proteolytic enzymes in the stomach lumen. The bicarbonate element of the mucus is important as it imparts increased pH to the epithelial cells. This alkaline nature protects them from the highly acidic stomach environment.