A study appearing in Nature Genetics reveals the gene responsible for eosiniophilic esophagitis. Eosinophilic esophagitis is a condition in which, it is believed, food allergies cause a large number of eosinophils, (a white blood cell), to accumulate at the esophagus causing inflammation and pain and sometimes resulting in scar tissue. Eosinophilic esophagitis is currently treated with corticosteroids to suppress immunity but now that the gene responsible for this condition has been discovered new treatments may be on the horizon.
"Eosinophilic esophagitis is a highly allergic disease, and one that is rapidly expanding. This is the first genome-wide association study done on this disease, and now that we have elucidated a gene pathway, the hope is that physicians can eventually intervene in that pathway and discover a new treatment," said allergist Jonathan M. Spergel, M.D., a co-first author of the study.
According to an article in Newswise the study implicates a gene called TLSP. "TLSP holds the genetic code to produce a cytokine, a specific signaling protein that regulates inflammatory responses occurring in allergic diseases," the article reads.
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