Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 7, 2015; 21(17): 5210-5219
Published online May 7, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i17.5210
From reflux esophagitis to Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma
Rui-Hua Wang
Rui-Hua Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital South Campus, Shanghai 201499, China
Author contributions: Wang RH contributed to the manuscript writing and the final revision of the article.
Supported by Shanghai Fengxian District of Science and Technology Commission 20131203.
Conflict-of-interest: The author has no conflict of interest related to the manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Rui-Hua Wang, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital South Campus, No. 6600 Nanfeng Road, Fengxian District, Shanghai 201499, China. ruihuawang@sina.cn
Telephone: +86-21-57420713 Fax: +86-21-37538586
Received: October 24, 2014
Peer-review started: October 25, 2014
First decision: December 26, 2014
Revised: January 19, 2015
Accepted: February 11, 2015
Article in press: February 11, 2015
Published online: May 7, 2015
Abstract

The occurrence of gastroesophageal reflux disease is common in the human population. Almost all cases of esophageal adenocarcinoma are derived from Barrett’s esophagus, which is a complication of esophageal adenocarcinoma precancerous lesions. Chronic exposure of the esophagus to gastroduodenal intestinal fluid is an important determinant factor in the development of Barrett’s esophagus. The replacement of normal squamous epithelium with specific columnar epithelium in the lower esophagus induced by the chronic exposure to gastroduodenal fluid could lead to intestinal metaplasia, which is closely associated with the development of esophageal adenocarcinoma. However, the exact mechanism of injury is not completely understood. Various animal models of the developmental mechanisms of disease, and theoretical and clinical effects of drug treatment have been widely used in research. Recently, animal models employed in studies on gastroesophageal reflux injury have allowed significant progress. The advantage of using animal models lies in the ability to accurately control the experimental conditions for better evaluation of results. In this article, various modeling methods are reviewed, with discussion of the major findings on the developmental mechanism of Barrett’s esophagus, which should help to develop better prevention and treatment strategies for Barrett’s esophagus.

Keywords: Animal models, Gastroesophageal reflux disease, Reflux esophagitis, Barrett’s esophagus, Esophageal adenocarcinoma

Core tip: Various modeling methods are reviewed and major findings on the developmental mechanism of Barrett’s esophagus are discussed, with the aim of identifying better prevention and treatment strategies for Barrett’s esophagus. Chronic exposure of the esophagus to gastroduodenal intestinal fluid is an important determinant factor in the development of Barrett’s esophagus. However, the exact mechanism of injury is not completely understood. Various animal models have been widely used in research. The advantage of using animal models in research lies in the ability to accurately control the experimental conditions for better evaluation of results.