Which GI medication forms a protective paste along the stomach lining?

Which GI medication forms a protective paste along the stomach lining?

• A. Famotidine
• B. Omeprazole
• C. Sucralfate
• D. Cimetidine

Answer: (C)

Sucralfate works by forming a protective paste that coats and adheres to the stomach lining and any ulcers. It’s a complex of sulfated sucrose and aluminum hydroxide. In the acidic environment of the stomach, it polymerizes and sticks to exposed proteins in the mucosa and ulcer craters, creating a viscous, gel-like barrier that shields tissue from acid, pepsin, and bile. This protective layer lasts for several hours, giving the mucosa a chance to heal. Because its effect is to coat rather than reduce acid production, it’s best taken on an empty stomach and spaced away from other medicines that could be trapped or chelated by the paste (often about 1 hour before meals and at bedtime). By contrast, the other drugs listed—H2 blockers and a proton pump inhibitor—work by lowering acid secretion rather than forming a protective barrier, so they don’t create this mucosal paste.

Sucralfate works by forming a protective paste that coats and adheres to the stomach lining and any ulcers. It’s a complex of sulfated sucrose and aluminum hydroxide. In the acidic environment of the stomach, it polymerizes and sticks to exposed proteins in the mucosa and ulcer craters, creating a viscous, gel-like barrier that shields tissue from acid, pepsin, and bile. This protective layer lasts for several hours, giving the mucosa a chance to heal.

Because its effect is to coat rather than reduce acid production, it’s best taken on an empty stomach and spaced away from other medicines that could be trapped or chelated by the paste (often about 1 hour before meals and at bedtime). By contrast, the other drugs listed—H2 blockers and a proton pump inhibitor—work by lowering acid secretion rather than forming a protective barrier, so they don’t create this mucosal paste.