Figure 1.

EoE is a local inflammatory disease of the esophagus and FA is a systemic allergic disorder, but both represent a continuum of food-related allergic disease. Th2 cells and Tregs are present in different relative amounts, but share similar surface markers and cytokine-expression profiles in both EoE and FA. Food-specific IgE and IgG4 are common in both EoE and FA, but the relative ratio of IgE is higher in FA. Changes that occur with diet or treatment (eg, oral immunotherapy) will influence the adaptive immune response and may change the dynamic equilibrium between EoE and FA.

Notes: Adapted from Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, Vol 22/edition 6, McGowan EC, Platts-Mills TAE, Wilson JM. Food allergy, eosinophilic esophagitis, and the enigma of IgG4, pages 563–564, Copright 2019, with permission from Elsevier.⁸²