Cell Turnover in the Gastrointestinal Tract and the Effect of Ethanol

Abstract

This chapter discusses gastrointestinal cell proliferation in association with carcinogenesis. Changes of cell turnover are especially described in the colon where an enormous body of literature has been recently accumulated linking proliferation with molecular biology. The epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract is one of the great renewal systems of the mammalian body. The basic organization of crypt systems in the intestine is similar, and largely independent of site. In common with gastrointestinal tissues, the colonic crypt is divided into proliferative and functional compartment; cells being born in the proliferative compartment and migrating into the functional compartment. Changes of cell turnover are especially described in the colon where an enormous body of literature has been recently accumulated linking proliferation with molecular biology. The major emphasis, however, will be on the effect of ethanol ingestion on mucosal cell regeneration, its possible mechanisms, and its consequences. The epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract is one of the great renewal systems of the mammalian body.