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Lambert et al. J Transl Genet Genom 2018;2:11 Journal of Translational
DOI: 10.20517/jtgg.2018.11 Genetics and Genomics

Review Open Access

Biomarkers and therapeutic targets: microRNA roles
in the pathophysiology, diagnosis and management

of eosinophilic esophagitis

Kristin A. Lambert 1,2,3 , Punit Jhaveri , Pooja Jhaveri 5
4
1 Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center,
Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
2 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
3 Medical Scientist Training Program, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
4 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Penn State Children’s Hospital, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
5 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy & Immunology, Penn State Children’s Hospital, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
Correspondence to: Dr. Pooja Jhaveri, Division of Allergy & Immunology, Penn State Health, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033,
USA. E-mail: pjhaveri@pennstatehealth.psu.edu

How to cite this article: Lambert KA, Jhaveri P, Jhaveri P. Biomarkers and therapeutic targets: microRNA roles in the pathophysiology,
diagnosis and management of eosinophilic esophagitis. J Transl Genet Genom 2018;2:11. https://doi.org/10.20517/jtgg.2018.11
Received: 4 Jun 2018 First Decision: 18 Jun 2018 Revised: 7 Jul 2018 Accepted: 19 Jul 2018 Published: 8 Aug 2018

Science Editor: Faoud Terrence Ishmael Copy Editor: Jun-Yao Li Production Editor: Huan-Liang Wu

Abstract

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic inflammatory disease that is increasingly recognized as the cause of
common gastrointestinal symptoms including dysphagia, chest and abdominal pain, heartburn, food impaction, and
food refusal in children and adults. Often referred to as “asthma of the esophagus”, eosinophilic esophagitis, like its
asthma counterpart, is an allergic disorder on the rise worldwide. Clinically managed by food avoidance, steroid therapy,
recurring endoscopic evaluations and dilations as needed, eosinophilic esophagitis is a poorly understood disease
process with limited therapies and even fewer diagnostic tools to predict and surveil active inflammation. As a result,
there is a critical need to identify noninvasive biomarkers and therapeutic targets for eosinophilic esophagitis. Here we
review the known contributions of miRNAs to eosinophilic inflammation of the esophagus and the potential for miRNA
biomarkers for EoE in the clinical setting.

Keywords: Eosinophilic esophagitis, microRNA, miR-375, miR-21, miR-223, biomarkers, miRNA replacement therapy

INTRODUCTION
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an emerging allergic disease worldwide and a leading cause of dysphagia
[1-5]
and food impaction in children and adults . A progressive fibrostenotic disease, EoE is an antigen-driven,
non-IgE mediated, inflammatory process affecting the esophagus . EoE is characterized by eosinophil-rich
[6]
© The Author(s) 2018. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

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