Evaluation of g protein-coupled receptor 84 (gpr 84) role in gastro esophageal reflux disease / Ahmed Elsayed Taha Elsayed ; Supervised Abdelmeguid Mahfouz Kassem , Thomas Efferth , Hadeel Gamal Eldeen

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Tropical Medicine

Background: Human GPR84 has been found to be expressed in many organs and cells. It is also expressed in esophagus in chronic inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases as reflux esophagitis. AIM: The aim of the work is to explore the possible role of GPR84 in GERD and the possible correlation between GPR84 expression and reflux esophagitis grading. Methods: 97 subjects, indicated to do upper GI endoscopy, were included in this study after signing an informed consent then divided into two nearly equal groups based on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy findings (48 subjects with normal esophagus and 49 subjects with reflux esophagitis). Clinical evaluation was done for all subjects and Endoscopic biopsies were taken from the esophagus for assessment of GPR84 expression by immuno-histochemistry staining. Results: Subjects' mean age was 39 ± 12.8 years with male/female ratio 45/52. GPR84 was expressed in 46 subjects (47.2%). No statistically significant difference between GPR84 expression either in groups with normal esophagus or in reflux esophagitis was found. Moreover, most subjects with GERD grade B showed expression of GPR84 (8 out of 12), P= 0.09. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding reflux gastro-esophageal symptoms as heartburn and epigastric pain, P= 0.002 and 0.038 respectively. Conclusion: GPR84 is expressed in both normal esophagus and reflux esophagitis. Further large studies with larger number of subjects are needed to demonstrate the relation between GPR84 and GERD

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