Key clinical point: Whole-blood IL5RA expression could serve as a noninvasive biomarker for the diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE).
Major finding: The expression of IL5RA was 2.36-fold higher in patients with EoE vs control individuals ( P = .001). The value of area under the concentration-time curve for differentiating between the two groups was 0.85. IL5RA expression levels correlated significantly with the baseline tissue esophageal eosinophil counts on biopsy specimens (Pearson R = 0.62; P < .0001) and were associated with the total baseline endoscopy reference score (Pearson R = 0.52; P < .001).
Study details: This prospective study analyzed the whole blood samples of 20 patients with EoE who were treated with topical corticosteroids for 8 weeks before undergoing endoscopy and 20 control individuals without EoE.
Disclosures: This study was supported by grants from the US National Institutes of Health. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Sninsky JA et al. Peripheral blood IL5RA gene expression as a diagnostic biomarker for eosinophilic esophagitis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2023 (Nov 7). doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2023.10.028
