THE DIAGNOSTIC USEFULNESS OF E-CADHERIN AND EPIDERMAL GROWTH FACTOR (EGF) IN SYMPTOMATIC GASTRO-ESOPHAGEAL REFLUX DISEASE

Aims The aim of our study is to evaluate the utility of fasting E-cadherin and EGF levels in serum and saliva as a non-invasive test to predict the presence of gastro-esophageal reflux disease in patients with typical, atypical or extra-esophageal symptoms compared with healthy volunteers and to find any correlation among E-cadherin or EGF levels and patients’ characteristics, symptoms or endoscopic findings.

Methods In our observational, single institution and two-arm study we enrolled 60 patients undergoing upper GI endoscopy and 20 heathy volunteers. All the subjects filled GERD-HRQL and RSI questionnaires at the time of enrollment. We collected, centrifuged and froze (-80°C) the salivary and serum samples before analyzing them using an ELISA test. Eventually, we analyzed data obtained with SPSS.

Results Our study shows that E-cadherin concentration is statistically higher in patients’ serum (p = 0.003) and even more in salivary samples (p < 0.001). Also, the salivary E-cadherin is statistically higher (p = 0,038) in patients with almost an extra-esophageal symptom. In addition, we demonstrate that salivary and serum E-cadherin concentration in patients with ERD and NERD is statistically higher (p = 0,001; p = 0,003) than in controls. Furthermore, we demonstrate that patients’ serum E-cadherin concentration is related to the BMI (p < 0.001) and to age (p = 0.02). The salivary EGF level is statistically higher in patients than in controls (p = 0.03), while the serum concentration is similar. Also, in NERD patients the salivary EGF is statistically higher than in controls (p < 0,05).

Conclusions Our study proved that salivary and serum E-cadherin and salivary EGF are specific biomarkers of acid-induced epithelial injury in GERD. Finally, salivary E-cadherin is a specific test for patients with almost an extra-esophageal symptom.