A group of researchers, including a group at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute, have made what’s being hailed as a “breakthrough” in understanding the cause of a rare disorder.
The development could lead to new treatments for eosinophilic eophagitis, or EoE. The condition, which is an allergic/immune disorder, causes inflammation of the esophagus, usually from consuming foods such as dairy products, eggs, soy or wheat.
EoE can cause infants and toddlers to refuse food and hinder their development. Older children may have recurring abdominal pain, vomiting and trouble swallowing, while teenagers and adults typically have difficulty swallowing. Food may also become stuck in the inflamed esophagus, creating a medical emergency.
Existing treatments for EoE are limited to prescribing long-term restrictive diets and steroid sprays to swallow.
The discovery was reported online in Nature Genetics.
“We hope this discovery will open the door to some additional treatment options,” Dr. Stacie Jones, a professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Physiology & Biophysics in the UAMS College of Medicine, said in a news release.
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