New diagnostic and therapeutic frontiers in eosinophilic esophagitis

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a relatively new disease that is increasingly recognized as a chronic inflammatory condition with currently evolving diagnostic and therapeutic aspects. There is data to support the rising prevalence of EOE especially in western countries. EoE is an emerging cause of dysphagia and food bolus impaction in adults as well as abdominal pain, feeding disorders, and gastroesophageal reflux-like symptoms in younger patients. EoE is ever more recognized as a separate disease process that is more complicated than eosinophilic infiltration from gastroesophageal reflux disease. Food and environmental antigens both play significant roles in stimulating T-helper (Th-2) inflammatory response. Current therapeutic options include use of proton-pump inhibitors, immunosuppressive drugs, elimination diets, and esophageal dilatation. Simple elimination of food and environmental antigen exposure can be challenging in adults due to the difficulty in accurately identifying triggering antigens and adherence to restrictive diets from a wide range of putative food allergens. Novel therapeutic options are being presented as potential treatments that target chemokines and specific immunologic mechanisms for EoE. This review will aim to summarize the latest and evolving approaches to EoE diagnosis and management. In the future, biomarkers of inflammatory response may help diagnose, treat, and stratify individual patients for better treatment outcomes with this chronic disease.