Diagnostic merits of the Eosinophilic Esophagitis Diagnostic Panel from a single esophageal biopsy

Abstract

Background: Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a histologically "patchy" disease with uneven eosinophil distribution along the esophagus, posing a dilemma for histologically analyzing endoscopic biopsy samples, especially when biopsy samples are limited to only the distal esophagus.

Objective: We investigated whether molecular mRNA profiling of a distal esophageal biopsy sample predicts eosinophilia in the proximal esophagus.

Methods: Esophageal biopsy samples (n = 507) from subjects with EoE were collected from multiple institutions, spanning adults and pediatric patients. Subjects were grouped on the basis of distinct distal (D) and proximal (P) eosinophil counts (D⁺P⁺, D⁺P^-, D^-P⁺, and D^-P^-, with + and - defined as ≥15 or <15 eosinophils/hpf, respectively). Molecular profiles were assessed by using the EoE Diagnostic Panel (EDP), a set of 96 esophageal transcripts used to derive the EDP score.

Results: The distal EDP score was correlated with proximal eosinophil levels (r = -0.73; P < .0001). EDP analysis of a histologically negative distal biopsy sample predicted the presence of proximal esophagitis with high sensitivity (85%). In a 2-year follow-up focusing on the cases with discordant histologic and EDP results, histologically negative patients (D^-P^-) had higher rates of EoE relapse when the EDP was positive than when the EDP was negative (odds ratio = 11; P = .003), indicating predictive medicine capacity.

Conclusion: EDP analysis of a single distal esophageal biopsy sample predicts remote inflammation in patients with spatially heterogeneous eosinophilia and disease relapse in patients with histologic remission, providing diagnostic merit and predictive medicine capacity for molecular diagnosis of EoE.

Keywords: EoE transcriptome; Eosinophilic esophagitis; diagnostic panel; eosinophil; eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases; molecular diagnostics; predictive medicine.