Dietary therapy for eosinophilic esophagitis.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to evaluate the efficacy of dairy elimination diets in managing eosinophilic esophagitis, comparing different dietary restriction approaches.
Results Summary
Dairy was identified as one of the most common food triggers for eosinophilic esophagitis in both children and adults. A 2-food elimination diet (dairy and gluten-containing cereals) showed a 43% efficacy rate, while a 4-food elimination diet (including dairy) achieved 54% efficacy in adults and 64% in children.
Population
Children and adults from the United States, Spain, and Australia with eosinophilic esophagitis.
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
6 weeks for empiric elimination diets
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elemental diets (exclusive feeding with amino acid-based formulas) | increase | efficacy rates | - | best | have consistently shown the best efficacy rates | #1 |
empiric 6-food elimination diets (withdrawing milk, wheat, egg, soy, nuts, and fish/seafood for 6 weeks) | increase | efficacy rates | - | best | have consistently shown the best efficacy rates | #2 |
a 2-food elimination diet (dairy and gluten-containing cereals) | increase | efficacy rates | - | 43% | have lately developed with good efficacy rates | #3 |
a 4-food elimination diet (dairy, gluten-containing cereals, egg, and legumes) | increase | efficacy rates | adults | 54% | have lately developed with good efficacy rates | #4 |
a 4-food elimination diet (dairy, gluten-containing cereals, egg, and legumes) | increase | efficacy rates | children | 64% | have lately developed with good efficacy rates | #5 |
A step-up approach (2-4-6) | increase | recognition of responders | - | majority | might result in prompt recognition of a majority of responders with few food triggers | #6 |
A step-up approach (2-4-6) | decrease | number of endoscopies | - | - | reducing the number of endoscopies | #7 |
A step-up approach (2-4-6) | decrease | costs | - | - | reducing the costs | #8 |
A step-up approach (2-4-6) | decrease | diagnostic process | - | - | shortening the diagnostic process | #9 |
Eosinophilic esophagitis is a chronic, immune-mediated esophageal disease triggered predominantly, but not exclusively, by food antigens. Presently, available food allergy tests are suboptimal to predict food triggers for eosinophilic esophagitis, especially in adults. Elemental diets (exclusive feeding with amino acid-based formulas) and empiric 6-food elimination diets (withdrawing milk, wheat, egg, soy, nuts, and fish/seafood for 6 weeks) have consistently shown the best efficacy rates. However, their high level of restriction and need for multiple endoscopies have hampered their implementation in clinical practice. Currently, milk, wheat/gluten, and egg are the most common food triggers in children and adults from the United States, Spain, and Australia. Hence less restrictive empiric schemes, such as a 4-food elimination diet (dairy, gluten-containing cereals, egg, and legumes) or a 2-food elimination diet (dairy and gluten-containing cereals) have been lately developed with good efficacy rates (2-food elimination diet, 43%; 4-food elimination diet in adults, 54%; and 4-food elimination diet in children, 64%). A step-up approach (2-4-6) might result in prompt recognition of a majority of responders with few food triggers, reducing the number of endoscopies and costs and shortening the diagnostic process. Standardization of food reintroduction, novel food allergy testing, and studies evaluating a milk elimination diet in children and the long-term outcomes of dietary interventions are warranted.