D3.402 - Potential role of Advanced Glycation End-products in Pediatric Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is one of the most prevalent non-communicable chronic inflammatory pediatric GI disorders. Emerging evidence suggest a potential role for ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) in facilitating the occurrence of chronic non-communicable disorders. Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), main detrimental compounds in UPFs, could be involved in the EoE pathogenesis. In this study we investigated the potential association between dietary AGEs intake and pediatric EoE.

We comparatively evaluated the intake of the three major dietary AGEs [Nε-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML), Nε-(1-carboxyethyl)lysine (CEL) and Nδ-(5-hydro-5-methyl-4-imidazolon-2-yl)-ornithine (MG-H1)] in EoE pediatric patients vs sex- and age-matched healthy controls with a 1:2 ratio. Furthermore, daily proportion (%) of UPFs in the total weight of food and beverages consumed (g/day) and energy (kcal) deriving from UPFs were also analyzed.

A total of 30 children were enrolled: 10 EoE patients (80% male, mean age 12.7 years ± 4.5 SD) and 20 healthy controls (80% male, mean age 11.2 yrs ± 5.1 SD). A higher consumption of the three AGEs was observed in EoE patients vs controls [CML: 3.0 mg (95%CI 2.6-4.1) vs. 2.5 mg (95%CI 1.9-3.2), p=0.04; CEL: 1.9 (95%CI 1.1-3.8) vs. 1.5 mg (95%CI 0.9-2.6), p=0.13; MG.H1: 20.6 mg (95%CI 13.8-21.5) vs. 13.1 mg (95%CI 9.7-17.3), p=0.05]. Furthermore, we observed a trend toward higher daily dietary intake of UPFs patients than healthy controls. 

Results from this study support a potential role for dietary AGEs exposure in facilitating the occurrence of pediatric EoE. Additional analyses with a larger sample size are ongoing to confirm our findings.