Relationship between esophageal cardiac glands and gastroesophageal reflux disease

The role of esophageal cardiac glands has not been fully determined. This study was performed to clarify the protective role of esophageal cardiac glands against the development of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

The subjects included 2,656 Japanese individuals who visited our institution for a detailed medical checkup. GERD symptoms were assessed using the Japanese version of the Carlsson-Dent self-administered questionnaire (QUEST) and an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy examination in each subject. The presence of reflux esophagitis, size of diaphragmatic hiatus, degree of gastric mucosal atrophy and existence of visible esophageal cardiac glands in the distal esophagus, based on the detection of yellowish elevated areas, were determined using endoscopy.

Esophageal cardiac glands were observed in 355 cases (13.4%). Reflux esophagitis was significantly less frequent in the cases with esophageal cardiac glands than in those without. The esophageal cardiac glands were mainly located on the left-posterior side of the esophageal wall of the distal esophagus. A multiple regression analysis showed that the presence of esophageal cardiac glands was an independent factor for preventing reflux esophagitis. On the other hand, the existence of these glands did not correlate with the presence of GERD symptoms (QUEST score of 6 or more).

The presence of visible esophageal cardiac glands may have a protective role against the development of reflux esophagitis.