PHILADELPHIA—Pediatric researchers identified the first major gene location responsible for a severe, often painful type of food allergy called eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), according to a new study published in Nature Genetics.
Researchers found EoE was linked to a region of chromosome 5 that includes two genes. The likely culprit is the gene TSLP, which has higher activity levels in children with EoE compared to healthy subjects. TSLP has been previously linked to allergic inflammatory diseases such as asthma and atopic dermatitis.
EoE has been increasing over the past 20 years, and its reported incidence of one in 10,000 people may be an underestimate. Symptoms include swelling and inflammation in the esophagus, accompanied by high levels of immune cells called eosinophils. It can affect people of any age, but is more common among young men who have a history of other allergic diseases such as asthma and eczema. EoE is often first discovered in children with feeding difficulties and failure to thrive.
Because children with EoE are often allergic to many foods, they may be limited to an elemental formula containing no large food proteins, to allow time for their symptoms to resolve. Physicians then perform tests to determine which foods a child can or cannot eat.
