Expression profiling identifies key genes and biological functions associated with eosinophilic esophagitis in human patients.

Introduction: Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic allergic disease characterized by progressive inflammation of the esophageal mucosa. This chronic inflammatory disorder affects up to 50 per 100,000 individuals in the United States and Europe yet is limited in treatment options. While the transcriptome of EoE has been reported, few studies have examined the genetics among a cohort including both adult and pediatric EoE populations. To identify potentially overlooked biomarkers in EoE esophageal biopsies that may be promising targets for diagnostic and therapeutic development. Methods: We used microarray analysis to interrogate gene expression using esophageal biopsies from EoE and Control subjects with a wide age distribution. Analysis of differential gene expression (DEGs) and prediction of impaired pathways was compared using conventional transcriptome analysis (TAC) and artificial intelligence-based (ADVAITA) programs. Principal Components Analysis revealed samples cluster by disease status (EoE and Control) irrespective of clinical features like sex, age, and disease severity. Results: Global transcriptomic analysis revealed differential expression of several genes previously reported in EoE (CCL26, CPA3, POSTN, CTSC, ANO1, CRISP3, SPINK7). In addition, we identified differential expression of several genes from the MUC and SPRR families, which have been limited in previous reports. Discussion: Our findings suggest that there is epithelial dysregulation demonstrated by DEGs that may contribute to impaired barrier integrity and loss of epidermal cell differentiation in EoE patients. These findings present two new gene families, SPRR and MUC, that are differentially expressed in both adult and pediatric EoE patients, which presents an opportunity for a future therapeutic target that would be useful in a large demographic of patients.

Immunoglobulin G4 in eosinophilic esophagitis: Immune complex formation and correlation with disease activity.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown deposition of immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) and food proteins in the esophageal mucosa of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) patients. Our aims were to assess whether co-localization of IgG4 and major cow's milk proteins (CMPs) was associated with EoE disease activity and to investigate the proteins enriched in proximity to IgG4 deposits. METHODS: This study included adult subjects with EoE (n = 13) and non-EoE controls (n = 5). Esophageal biopsies were immunofluorescence stained for IgG4 and CMPs. Co-localization in paired samples from active disease and remission was assessed and compared to controls. The proteome surrounding IgG4 deposits was evaluated by the novel technique, AutoSTOMP. IgG4-food protein interactions were confirmed with co-immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry. RESULTS: IgG4-CMP co-localization was higher in the active EoE group compared to paired remission samples (Bos d 4, p = .02; Bos d 5, p = .002; Bos d 8, p = .002). Co-localization was also significantly higher in the active EoE group compared to non-EoE controls (Bos d 4, p = .0013; Bos d 5, p = .0007; Bos d 8, p = .0013). AutoSTOMP identified eosinophil-derived proteins (PRG 2 and 3, EPX, RNASE3) and calpain-14 in IgG4-enriched areas. Co-immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry confirmed IgG4 binding to multiple food allergens. CONCLUSION: These findings further contribute to the understanding of the interaction of IgG4 with food antigens as it relates to EoE disease activity. These data strongly suggest the immune complex formation of IgG4 and major cow's milk proteins. These immune complexes may have a potential role in the pathophysiology of EoE by contributing to eosinophil activation and disease progression.

Food antigen consumption and disease activity affect food-specific IgG4 levels in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE).

INTRODUCTION: High levels of serum food-specific IgG4 (sIgG4) have been reported in patients with EoE. The objective of this study was to examine whether serum sIgG4 levels to foods and aeroallergens are higher in EoE patients than allergic controls and to investigate the association between sIgG4 and EoE clinical characteristics. METHODS: This was a case-control study nested in a prospective EoE Cohort. EoE cases were defined per consensus guidelines, and controls were individuals with symptoms who were confirmed to be EoE-negative on upper endoscopy. Demographic and clinical information was prospectively collected. Serum IgE and sIgG4 were measured to foods and aeroallergens by ImmunoCAP. Mean levels of sIgG4 were compared between cases and controls, and logistic regression models were used to examine predictors of elevated milk sIgG4 levels. RESULTS: The analysis included 123 individuals (EoE n = 93, control n = 30) with a similar distribution of allergic disease between EoE patients and controls (86% vs. 93%; p = .30). EoE patients had significantly higher sIgG4 levels to all allergens evaluated, with the exception of birch (p = .24). Milk sIgG4 levels were independently associated with milk consumption (OR 4.95; p = .01) and the presence of sIgE to milk (OR 4.23; p = .008). CONCLUSION: Serum sIgG4 levels to food and aeroallergen proteins were higher in patients with EoE than non-EoE controls, and higher levels of milk sIgG4 were independently associated with milk consumption and the presence of sIgE to milk proteins. Whether sIgG4 plays a pathogenic role in EoE or could be used as an EoE biomarker remains unknown and warrants further study.

Persistent Diarrhea and Eosinophilic Esophagitis Resulting From Chronic Cannabidiol Usage for Refractory Epilepsy.

Cannabidiol is used in the care of treatment-resistant epilepsy. It has been associated with varying side effects, ranging from somnolence to diarrhea and weight loss. We present a patient on chronic cannabidiol therapy who had persistent diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss, and esophageal eosinophilia that improved with cannabidiol dose adjustment.

Advancing Eosinophilic Esophagitis Diagnosis and Phenotype Assessment with Deep Learning Computer Vision.

Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) is an inflammatory esophageal disease which is increasing in prevalence. The diagnostic gold-standard involves manual review of a patient's biopsy tissue sample by a clinical pathologist for the presence of 15 or greater eosinophils within a single high-power field (400× magnification). Diagnosing EoE can be a cumbersome process with added difficulty for assessing the severity and progression of disease. We propose an automated approach for quantifying eosinophils using deep image segmentation. A U-Net model and post-processing system are applied to generate eosinophil-based statistics that can diagnose EoE as well as describe disease severity and progression. These statistics are captured in biopsies at the initial EoE diagnosis and are then compared with patient metadata: clinical and treatment phenotypes. The goal is to find linkages that could potentially guide treatment plans for new patients at their initial disease diagnosis. A deep image classification model is further applied to discover features other than eosinophils that can be used to diagnose EoE. This is the first study to utilize a deep learning computer vision approach for EoE diagnosis and to provide an automated process for tracking disease severity and progression.

Specific IgG4 antibodies to cow's milk proteins in pediatric patients with eosinophilic esophagitis.

BACKGROUND: Allergen-specific IgG4 (sIgG4) antibodies are often associated with tolerance, but sIgG4 antibodies to causally relevant foods have been reported recently in adults with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Prevalence and levels of food sIgG4 are not well established in the general pediatric population. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate serum food sIgG4 with component diagnostics in children with EoE and children from an unselected birth cohort and to explore the effects of sex, age, and milk consumption on sIgG4 levels. METHODS: Sera from 71 pediatric patients with EoE and 210 early adolescent children from an unselected birth cohort (Project Viva) were assayed for sIgG4 and specific IgE (sIgE) to major cow's milk (CM) proteins (α-lactalbumin, ß-lactoglobulin, and caseins) and to wheat, soy, egg, and peanut proteins. RESULTS: In the EoE cohort high-titer sIgG4 (≥10 µg/mL) to CM proteins was more common than in control sera and achieved odds ratios for EoE ranging from 5.5 to 8.4. sIgE levels to CM proteins were mostly 4 IU/mL or less in patients with EoE, such that sIgG4/sIgE ratios were often 10,000 or greater. When adjusted for age and milk consumption, high-titer sIgG4 to CM proteins was strongly associated with EoE, with an odds ratio of greater than 20 to all 3 CM proteins in boys. CONCLUSIONS: sIgG4 to CM proteins are common and high titer in children with EoE. Although it is not clear that this response is pathogenic, sIgG4 levels imply that these antibodies are an important feature of the local immune response that gives rise to EoE.

Gain-of-function mutations in SMAD4 cause a distinctive repertoire of cardiovascular phenotypes in patients with Myhre syndrome.

Myhre syndrome is a rare, distinctive syndrome due to specific gain-of-function mutations in SMAD4. The characteristic phenotype includes short stature, dysmorphic facial features, hearing loss, laryngotracheal anomalies, arthropathy, radiographic defects, intellectual disability, and a more recently appreciated spectrum of cardiovascular defects with a striking fibroproliferative response to surgical intervention. We report four newly described patients with typical features of Myhre syndrome who had (i) a mildly narrow descending aorta and restrictive cardiomyopathy; (ii) recurrent pericardial and pleural effusions; (iii) a large persistent ductus arteriosus with juxtaductal aortic coarctation; and (iv) restrictive pericardial disease requiring pericardiectomy. Additional information is provided about a fifth previously reported patient with fatal pericardial disease. A literature review of the cardiovascular features of Myhre syndrome was performed on 54 total patients, all with a SMAD4 mutation. Seventy percent had a cardiovascular abnormality including congenital heart defects (63%), pericardial disease (17%), restrictive cardiomyopathy (9%), and systemic hypertension (15%). Pericarditis and restrictive cardiomyopathy are associated with high mortality (three patients each among 10 deaths); one patient with restrictive cardiomyopathy also had epicarditis. Cardiomyopathy and pericardial abnormalities distinguish Myhre syndrome from other disorders caused by mutations in the TGF-ß signaling cascade (Marfan, Loeys-Dietz, or Shprintzen-Goldberg syndromes). We hypothesize that the expanded spectrum of cardiovascular abnormalities relates to the ability of the SMAD4 protein to integrate diverse signaling pathways, including canonical TGF-ß, BMP, and Activin signaling. The co-occurrence of congenital and acquired phenotypes demonstrates that the gene product of SMAD4 is required for both developmental and postnatal cardiovascular homeostasis. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ethnic differences in the link between insulin resistance and elevated ALT.

BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) exhibits tight links with insulin resistance (IR) and the metabolic syndrome (MetS), a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors. Compared with non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic black adolescents have more IR but a lower prevalence of NAFLD and MetS. Our hypothesis was that IR would be a better predictor of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevations than is MetS among non-Hispanic blacks. METHODS: We analyzed data from 4124 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years in the 1999 to 2010 NHANES, using unexplained elevations in ALT (>30 U/L) to characterize presumed NAFLD and using a pediatric adaptation of the Adult Treatment Panel III definition of MetS. RESULTS: Prevalence of elevated ALT varied by race/ethnicity (Hispanics 13.7%, non-Hispanic white 8.6%, non-Hispanic blacks 5.4%, P < .0001). Among non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics, a classification of MetS performed well in identifying adolescents with elevated ALT (odds ratios [ORs] 9.53 and 5.56, respectively), as did MetS-related indices. However, among non-Hispanic blacks, the association between MetS and ALT elevations was smaller in magnitude and technically nonsignificant (OR = 3.24, P = .051). Furthermore, among non-Hispanic blacks, the presence of IR and elevated waist circumference performed more poorly at identifying ALT elevations (ORs 3.93 and 2.28, respectively: significantly smaller than ORs for non-Hispanic whites, P < .05), with triglyceride elevations being a better predictor (OR = 4.44). CONCLUSIONS: Non-Hispanic black adolescents exhibit a lower relationship between IR and elevated ALT, supporting racial/ethnic differences in the link between MetS and NAFLD. These data may have implications regarding triggers for screening for NAFLD among non-Hispanic black adolescents, focusing particularly on those with triglyceride elevations.

Changes in inflammation and QoL after a single dose of infliximab during ongoing IBD treatment.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Infliximab is used increasingly as maintenance therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); however, the effects of a single maintenance dose of infliximab are unclear with respect to the quality of life and hormones related to growth and puberty. The aim of the present study was to determine the time course of inflammatory, hormonal, and quality-of-life changes following a single dose of infliximab in the context of ongoing therapy, as related to presence of IBD symptoms at time of administration. METHODS: Children and adolescents with IBD receiving ongoing therapy with infliximab for clinical indications were recruited. The Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index was determined at baseline and laboratory measures of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and hormones of growth and puberty were determined on days 0, 2, and 14. IBD-related quality of life (IMPACT III questionnaire) was tested on days 0 and 14. Subjects who had symptoms of IBD were compared with asymptomatic subjects. RESULTS: Subjects overall and in the symptomatic group exhibited improved hsCRP by day 2 following treatment. Symptomatic subjects had higher Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index scores and lower quality-of-life scores than asymptomatic subjects on day 0, whereas at day 14 there were no significant differences in quality-of-life scores between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: Even in the context of ongoing treatment, a single dose of infliximab results in decreased hsCRP, an improvement that is particularly noted among subjects who are symptomatic at the time of treatment. Although randomized trials are needed, these observational data may assist clinicians, patients, and families regarding expectations about timing and extent of these changes following a single treatment dose.

Cholangiocytes as immune modulators in rotavirus-induced murine biliary atresia.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Biliary atresia (BA) is a progressive disease characterized by bile duct inflammation and fibrosis. The aetiology is unknown and may be due to a virus-induced, autoimmune-mediated injury of cholangiocytes. Cholangiocytes are not only targets of injury but may also modulate hepatic inflammation. The aim of this study was to determine the immune profile of murine cholangiocytes and the ability to function as antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in culture with Rhesus rotavirus (RRV), poly I:C (viral mimic) or interferon-gamma/tumour necrosis factor-alpha. METHODS/RESULTS: Both the cholangiocyte cell line (long-term culture) and fresh, ex vivo cholangiocytes expressed APC surface markers major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-class I and II and CD40, while only the cultured cell line expressed costimulatory molecules B7-1 and B7-2. Despite APC expression, cultured cholangiocytes were unable to function as competent APCs in T-cell proliferation assays. Furthermore, both cultured and ex vivo cholangiocytes expressed RNA transcripts for many pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. CONCLUSIONS: Although cholangiocytes contain APC molecules, they are incompetent at antigen presentation and cannot elicit effective T-cell activation. Upregulation of MHC-class I and II found in BA mice may serve to prime the cholangiocyte as a target for immune-mediated injury. Cholangiocytes produced many pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in the setting of RRV infection and T-helper type 1 cytokine milieu, suggesting a role of cholangiocytes as immune modulators promoting the ongoing inflammation that exists in RRV-induced BA.

Discordant erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein in children with inflammatory bowel disease taking azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by periods of relapse and remission. Treatment is aimed at reducing symptoms during relapse and prolonging the duration of remissions. 6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) and its prodrug azathioprine (AZA) are commonly used to prolong clinical remissions. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are two widely used laboratory markers of inflammation. The authors observed an unexplained discordance between ESR and CRP in children with asymptomatic IBD who were being treated with AZA or 6-MP. OBJECTIVE: To characterize children with IBD in remission treated with 6-MP or AZA who have persistently elevated ESR but normal CRP. METHODS: All patients seen in Pediatric Gastroenterology Clinic between January 1, 1995, and December 31, 2002, with Crohn disease or ulcerative colitis who received AZA or 6-MP continuously for at least 6 months were identified and their medical records reviewed. RESULTS: One hundred twenty patients met the eligibility criteria. Twelve had an ESR >18 mm/hour on at least three occasions during at least 12 consecutive months with a simultaneous CRP <0.8 mg/dL. Eleven of these 12 had no signs or symptoms of active disease and had Pediatric Crohn Disease Activity Index scores <10 for at least 12 consecutive months while the ESR was elevated. Disease duration was similar in the 11 children with asymptomatic disease and with discordant ESR and CRP and in 108 children with concordant ESR and CRP (69.2 + 22.5 months v 54.3 +/- 40.1 months, P = 0.0709). Duration of AZA or 6-MP therapy was greater in the 11 children with asymptomatic disease and discordant ESR and CRP than in those with or without symptoms and with concordant ESR and CRP (58.1 +/- 16.4 months v 36.6 +/- 24.1 months, P = 0.0043). There were no differences between the groups with respect to diagnosis, location of disease, or age at onset of symptoms. The mean corpuscular volume (MCV) was somewhat larger in the children with discordant ESR and CRP than in the children with concordant ESR and CRP (91.4 +/- 6.97 fL v 87.0 +/-7.07 fL, respectively, P = 0.0373); however, in both groups, the MCV was in the normal range. There were no significant differences in hematocrit, white blood cell count, serum albumin, total serum protein, or estimated serum globulin between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that among children treated with AZA or 6-MP, CRP may be a more reliable indirect indicator of inflammation than ESR. This report alerts clinicians that some children taking AZA or 6-MP may have persistent elevation of the ESR with a normal CRP and have no clinical evidence of active disease.