Role of IL-6 in GERD Patients with and without Obesity

Abstract

GERD is a normal physiological phenomenon experienced intermittently by most people, particularly after meals it occurs when the amount of gastric juice that refluxes into the esophagus exceeds the normal limit causing symptoms either with mucosal injury i.e. esophagitis(GERD)or without remarkable oesphageal lesion i.e. non erosive reflux disease (NERD). GERD is one of most complication of obesity and it is highly related to BMI. The precise pathophysiological link between obesity and GERD has not been fully elucidated. Individual studies have variably found reduced lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure, increased frequency of transient LES relaxations, increased prevalence of hiatal hernia, an increased prevalence of esophageal motor disorders, and disorders of gastric accommodations in obese subjects. Elevated intragastric pressure in patients with central obesity has also been implicated as a contributing factor. The pathophysiology of GERD in patients who are morbidly obese might differ from that of patients who are not obese So that the correction of reflux in patients who are morbidly obese might be better achieved with a procedure that first controls obesity.