#digestion

• Abt Frantz — The traditional popular and pharmaceutical name (originating from the Germanic area as 'Abbe Franz') for a tonic gastric tincture or elixir, historically used as a stomachic remedy to stimulate digestion, combat flatulence, and soothe abdominal spasms. Its formula was based on hydroalcoholic extracts of bitter and aromatic herbs, being a common preparation in Transylvanian and Central European pharmacies until the mid-20th century.
• Amylolytic — Decomposing, cleaving, or hydrolyzing the starch molecule into simpler structural compounds (dextrins, maltose, glucose); relating to amylolysis. The term characterizes specific biocatalysts, such as enzymes called amylases (salivary, pancreatic, or plant-derived), which break glycosidic bonds in polysaccharides during digestive or industrial processes.
• Amylolysis — The biochemical process of decomposition, cleavage, and hydrolysis of starch into structural compounds with a lower molecular weight, such as dextrins, maltose, and glucose. This degradative reaction is catalyzed by specific enzymes called amylases and takes place naturally during digestion in animals and humans, as well as in the germination process of seeds or in various fermentative industries.
• Aminopeptidase — An enzyme of the exopeptidase class that catalyzes the specific hydrolysis of peptide bonds at the free N-terminal end of a polypeptide chain, successively releasing terminal amino acids. This biocatalyst plays an essential structural role in the final phases of protein digestion within the intestinal mucosa, as well as in intracellular protein degradation and recycling processes.
• Anacidity — The pathological or total absence of hydrochloric acid from the gastric juice secretion, structurally settled at the level of the stomach mucosa. This clinical phenomenon, often correlated with severe gastric gland atrophy or pernicious anemia, severely disrupts the normal protein digestion process and promotes the growth of abnormal bacterial flora in the upper digestive tract.
• Anaerobiosis — A form of life, condition, or mode of existence of certain microorganisms that structurally develop in an environment completely devoid of free molecular oxygen. This biological phenomenon forms the basis of archaic energy metabolism processes, being essential in various isolated ecosystems, wastewater treatment (anaerobic digestion), and food fermentation industries.
• Antiflatulent — Preventing, reducing, or eliminating the excessive accumulation of gas in the gastrointestinal tract; a medicinal substance or natural remedy used to alleviate bloating and meteorism. Antiflatulent compounds act by altering the surface tension of gas bubbles trapped in the digestive mucus, causing cohesion and easier release.
• Autodigestion — A physiological or pathological process by which an organism, tissue, or cell destroys and digests its own structures or constituents under the action of endogenous proteolytic enzymes; a destructive cellular phenomenon associated with severe autophagy or enzymatic necrosis.
• Autolytic — Pertaining to or involving autolysis; that destroys, decomposes, or digests its own cells or tissues via intracellular enzymes (such as lysosomal ones) released after cell death or during programmed physiological processes. In biochemistry and histopathology, the term describes an intrinsic self-destructive process, essential in necrosis, apoptosis, or in the post-mortem degradation of biological samples that were not fixed properly in time.
• Autopepsia — Spontaneous self-digestion of an organ's tissues (especially the gastric mucosa or the pancreas) caused by its own enzymatic secretions or digestive juices, due to pathological disruptions of cellular protective mechanisms or following post-mortem necrosis. In gastroenterology, this destructive structural phenomenon forms the basis for the onset of perforating peptic ulcers or acute necrotizing-hemorrhagic pancreatitis.