Mucosa / Mucous membrane

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How large is the total mucosal surface area of the adult human gastrointestinal tract?

The total mucosal surface area of the adult human gastrointestinal tract is up to 300 m^2
Collins et al. 1998 Int. Dairy Journal 8: 487-490

mucus layers of small and large intestine

Anti-bacterial compounds secreted by the Paneth cells together with the mucus keep bacteria away from the epithelium in the small intestine. The inner mucus layer of [colon](brain://ZKm5xTx_K0yx_EBbrgo…

References (Sources)

Deficiency of intestinal mucin-2 ameliorates experimental alcoholic liver disease in mice
Hartmann et al. 2013 Hepatology 58: 108-119
Differential roles of interferons in innate responses to mucosal viral infections
Walker et al. 2021 Trends in Immunology 42: 1009
Review
Gut microbiota as an“invisible organ”that modulates the function of drugs
Li et al. 2020s
Review
Mucin dynamics in intestinal bacterial infection
Linden et al. 2008 PLoS One 3: e3952
Studies of mucus in mouse stomach, small intestine, and colon. I. Gastrointestinal mucus layers have different properties depending on location as well as over the Peyer’s patches
Ermund et al. 2013 Am. J. Physiol. Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 305: G341–G347
The impact of perinatal immune development on mucosal homeostasis and chronic inflammation
Renz et al. 2011 Nat Rev Immunol.12: 9-23
Review
The inner of the two Muc2 mucin-dependent mucus layers in colon is devoid of bacteria
Johansson et al. 2008 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 15064-15069

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