In: Anatomy and Physiology
Explain how HCl is produced and becomes more concentrated in the stomach region.
HCL is produced in the body by the parietal cells also known as oxyntic cells in the stomach. Water and carbon di oxide combine with parietal cells of the cytoplasm to produce carbonic acid, this acid immediately dissociates into hydrogen and bicarbonate ions. The hydrogen ion so formed in transported into the stomach lumen, while the bicarbonate ion so formed will be transported out of the cell into the blood in exchange for chloride ions, this chloride ion is then transported into the stomach lumen via a chloride channel, the opposing charge of chloride ion and hydrogen ion combine to form HCL.
The pH of HCL acid is 1.5 to 3.5 in the human stomach lumen, a level maintained by the proton pump H+/K+ ATPase. The parietal cell releases bicarbonate into the bloodstream in the process, which causes a temporary rise of pH in the blood.There was a general relationship between the amount of neutral chloride and the concentration of acid; when the amount of acid remained high the neutral chloride remained low; when the neutral chloride was high the acid was comparatively low.