Genetics of white blood cells in the lining of the esophagus

Eosinophilic Esophagitis, or EoE, is an immune system disease. Eosinophils are a type of white blood cell. Your esophagus is the tube that connects your mouth to your stomach. “Itis” means swelling. EoE happens when eosinophils buildup in the lining of your esophagus. Food or allergies may cause EoE. The buildup can injure the tissue. This can lead to problems swallowing. It can also cause food to get stuck. Heartburn or pain near the bottom or your ribcage can also be symptoms. You may also have acid coming up from your stomach. There are drugs and diets to help with EoE. One group of drugs is proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs. Prilosec and Nexium are examples. PPIs block the protein that pump acid into the stomach. But they do not work for some people. Picking which drug or diet will work for you is not easy. It costs more money to try different treatments. They can also have side effects. Doctors make decisions based on trial and error. Scientists think that gene changes may play in role in which drug or diet will work best for you. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center will use BioVU to study EoE. They will look for patients with EoE who took a PPI. Then they will see who did or did not do well on PPIs. They will look for a link between gene changes and who did not do well. The goal is to figure out if a PPI will work before we give it to you. If this works, they will do the same thing for other EoE drugs. The goal is to give you the best drug for EoE the first time. That will make you feel better faster. It may also cut down on side effects. Their results might help us find new ways to treat EoE too.