Innate Immunity in Eosinophilic Esophagitis

The endoscopy will be performed under general anaesthesia using a flexible endoscope with an external diameter of between 4.9 and 9.2 mm, depending on the size of the child. In line with the guidelines, eight biopsies will be collected from the proximal, median and distal oesophagus for the routine analysis of esophageal remodelling and inflammation. Three of these biopsies will be used in the context of this study to analyse innate immune cells using flow cytometry and to determine the profile of cytokine expression. Two biopsies will be placed in sterile, 0.5 ml Nunc tubes containing a storage buffer (MACS® Tissue Storage Solution) and then stored in ice until the extraction of cells for cytometric analysis . The third specimen will be placed in a sterile tube and frozen immediately in liquid nitrogen for analyses of the esophageal microbiome.