Reflux esophagitis (RE) is marked by reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus, resulting in superficial erosion of the mucosa.¹ Ranitidine is an agent known to have beneficial effects in patients with reflux esophagitis.²

While the risk factors RE have been well-studied, data about the predictive factors tied to future onset of RE is limited. A study looked at the time courses of clinical parameters prior to RE onset.

The longitudinal case-control study used health checkup records from April 2004 through March 2014 at 9 institutions in Japan. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to assess the associations of baseline clinical parameters with RE. A comparison was done between the time courses of clinical parameters of RE subjects and those of non-RE subjects using the mixed-effects models for repeated measures analysis or longitudinal multivariate logistic analysis. Data were aggregated from 230 056 individuals. Out of these, 2066 RE subjects and 4132 non-RE subjects were included in the final analysis.

• Factors independently associated with RE at baseline included body mass index (BMI), smoking, acid reflux symptoms, alanine aminotransferase, hiatal hernia, and absence of atrophic gastritis.
• The time courses of BMI, fasting blood sugar, triglyceride, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, percentages of acid reflux symptoms, feeling of fullness, and hiatal hernia in the RE group were found to be significantly worse compared to the non-RE group.
• RE subjects had greater worsening of clinical parameters tied to lifestyle diseases, including obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and fatty liver for 5 years prior to RE onset compared with the non-RE subjects.

The researchers concluded that RE is a lifestyle disorder and lifestyle guidance given to at-risk individuals may help prevent its onset.

References

1. Toki Y, Yamauchi R, Kayashima E, et al. Predictive Factors for Future Onset of Reflux Esophagitis: A Longitudinal Case-control Study Using Health Checkup Records. J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2022 Jan 30;28(1):86-94.
2. Jansen JBMJ, Baak LC, Lamers CBHW. Effect of increasing doses of ranitidine on exposure of the oesophagus to gastric acid in patients with reflux oesophagitis. Scand J Gastroenterol. 1988;23(suppl 154):2-5.