The mucus layer continuously covering the gastric mucosa consists of a loosely adherent layer that can be easily removed by suction, leaving a firmly adherent mucus layer attached to the epithelium. These two layers exhibit different gastroprotective roles; therefore, individual regulation of thickness and mucin composition were studied. Mucus thickness was measured in vivo with micropipettes i...

Gastrointestinal mucus, a complex network of highly branched glycoproteins and macromolecules, is the first barrier through which orally delivered drug and gene vectors must traverse. The diffusion of such vectors can be restricted by the high adhesivity and viscoelasticity of mucus. In this investigation, the barrier properties of gastrointestinal mucus to particle transport were explored usin...

The colon mucus layers minimize the contact between the luminal flora and the epithelial cells, and defects in this barrier may lead to colonic inflammation. We now describe an ex vivo method for analysis of mucus properties in human colon and mouse small and large intestine. Intestinal explants were mounted in horizontal perfusion chambers. The mucus surface was visualized by adding charcoal p...

Mucolytics are medicines that modulate mucus production and decrease mucus viscosity. Their mucus thinning effects may improve mucociliary transport and thereby facilitate expectoration of mucus out of the distal bronchial tree [1]. Improved clearance and expectoration of mucus can prevent mucus plugging of small airways and may theoretically improve gas exchange and lessen the probability of p...

We have collected gastrointestinal, mainly colonic, mucus from humans, guinea pigs, rats, and normal and carbonic anhydrase II (CAII)-deficient mice. In the mucus of all species, substantial CA activity was present. Using antibodies against human CA isoforms we found that the human mucus CA differs from cytosolic CAI and CAII, membrane-bound CAIV, and the secreted CAVI of saliva. The high sensi...

The histological characterization of the intestinal mucus layer is important for many scientific experiments investigating the interaction between intestinal microbiota, mucosal immune response and intestinal mucus production. The aim of this study was to examine and compare different fixation protocols for displaying and quantifying the intestinal mucus layer in piglets and to test which histo...