Gastrointestinal system structure

Treatment of gastrointestinal system inflammations may lead to damage to delicate structures within the system by antibiotics and to physiological bacterial flora selection. 

In animals, serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) is a very important neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and also in the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems. The structurally similar hormone melatonin is thought to control the diurnal rhythm of physiological functions. 

These studies represent the first report of the metabolism of brevetoxins by mammalian systems. PbTx-3 was rapidly cleared from the bloodstream and distributed to the liver, muscle, and gastrointestinal tract. Studies with isolated perfused livers and isolated hepatocytes conflrmed the liver as a site of metabolism and biliary excretion as an important route of toxin elimination. [ H]PbTx-3 was metabolized to several compounds exhibiting increased polarity, one of which appeared to be an epoxide derivative. Whether this compound corresponds to PbTx-6 (the 27,28 epoxide of PbTx-2), to the corresponding epoxide of PbTx-3, or to another structure is unknown. The structures of these metabolites are currently under investigation. 

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder of the gastrointestinal tract that interferes with the normal functions of the colon. At various points in the past, IBS has been referred to as mucous colitis, spastic colon, irritable colon, or nervous stomach. IBS is generally described as afunctional disorder rather than a disease per se. A functional disorder involves symptoms that cannot be attributed to a specific injury, infection, or other physical problem. A functional disorder occurs because of altered physiologic processes rather than structural or biochemical defects and may be subject to nervous system influence. IBS is associated with frequent fluctuation in symptoms, loss of productivity, and decreased quality of life. Although IBS has been referred to as functional bowel disease, true functional bowel disease may be more indicative of widespread gastrointestinal involvement including (but not limited to) the colon. 

An appropriate starting point for any discussion of drug transport in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract at the cellular level requires some introductory remarks on the structure and function of GI tissue. As a class of tissue, epithelia demarcate body entry points (skin, eye, respiratory, urinary, and GI organ systems), predisposing a general barrier function with respect to solute entry and translocation. In addi-... 

Smooth muscle is distributed throughout the body, largely around hollow structures such as blood vessels, the gastrointestinal tract and the genitourinary system. Normal function requires that the smooth muscles contract and relax at appropriate times, and abnormalities of contraction underlie such important pathologies as hypertension, incontinence and abnormal childbirth. Since contraction is initiated by an increase of cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration then normal function requires appropriate Ca2+ handling. 

In this section several recently published studies on the interaction of nonionic surfactants with a variety of biological systems, including enzymes, bacteria, erythrocytes, leukocytes, membrane proteins, low density lipoproteins and membranes controlling absorption from the gastrointestinal tract, nasal and rectal cavities, will be assessed. This is a selective account, work having been reviewed that throws light on structure-activity relationships and on mechanisms of surfactant action. 

Some of these triiodinated compounds are orally active, i.e. they are absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract after oral administration and imaging of the biliary system is possible following this route of administration. Examples are iopanoic acid, iophenoxic acid and sodium ipodate. A prerequisite for oral absorption is a balance of relatively hydrophilic and lipophilic moieties in the molecule. Numerous investigations have been performed to establish structure-activity relationships for this class of compounds, e.g. by Archer and Hoppe [70, 71]. Sodium salts are better absorbed than the free acids [72]. 

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