Novel therapeutic targets for gastroesophageal reflux disease by gene microarray profiling

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one of the most common GI-diagnosis. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) present the main treatment, but up to 40% of patients do not achieve adequate symptom control. Therefore the search continues for new therapeutic targets and additional treatment options. STW 5, a multi-component herbal preparation, was shown to relief concomitant reflux symptoms in patients with functional dyspepsia [1] and to prevent inflammation in an acute model of reflux esophagitis (RE) without affecting the pH of the refluxate [2]. Recently, we showed that it also improved macroscopic and histologi…