Question

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

Answer 1

Hint: The mucus is a slippery aqueous secretion produced by the mucous membranes. It is typically produced from cells found in the mucous glands. The gastric gland is one of the branched tubules in the inner lining of the stomach that is responsible for the secretion of the gastric juice and the protective mucus.

Complete answer: If the mucus is not secreted by the gastric glands then the stomach wall will be destroyed by the acid, since the mucus protects the stomach wall from hydrochloric acid. The hydrochloric acid will cause the erosion of the inner lining of the stomach leading to the formation of the ulcers in the stomach.
Additional information:
There are three types of the gastric glands, differentiated from one another by the location and type of the secretion. The cardiac gastric glands are situated at the beginning of the stomach; in the intermediate, the gastric glands are present in the central stomach areas; and the pyloric glands are present in the terminal of the stomach portion. Both the cardiac and the pyloric glands are responsible for the secretion of the mucus, which coats the stomach and also protects it from self-digestion by helping the dilute acids and the enzymes. The intermediate gastric gland produces the most of the digestive substances which are secreted by the stomach. These glands are the narrow tubules composed of the three major cell types: the zymogenic, the parietal, and the mucous neck cells. At the base of the gland are the zymogenic cells, which are meant to produce the enzymes like pepsin and the rennin. The parietal, or the oxyntic, cells occur throughout the length of the gland and are also responsible for the production of the hydrochloric acid, which is necessary to activate the other enzymes. The responsibility of the mucous neck cells is to secrete the mucus.

Note: The stomach wall contains the three tubular glands which are also called as the gastric glands, that are responsible for the secretion of the gastric juice. The gastric juice consists of the Hydrochloric acid which makes the medium acidic so that enzyme pepsin becomes active. HCI kills the bacteria that may enter the stomach by the food.