THE INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN TREFOIL FACTOR AND GASTROESOPHAGEAL REFLUX DISEASE (GERD): A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Gastroesophageal reflux disease is characterized by the return of food contents from the stomach to the esophagus and can be explained by the transient relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter that allows the return of acid, causing lesions characteristic of GERD in the stomach. In addition, the trefoil factor (TFF) and its family have beneficial properties capable of commanding responses against pathogens, lesions or threats. Thus, the present study aims to understand and describe, through an integrative review of the literature, the relationship between the trefoil factor and gastroesophageal reflux disease. This article is an integrative review of the structured literature based on the development of the problem established where they were searched in the SciELO, PUBMED, AND VHL databases. In this context, there are few studies that point out the influence of TFF on GERD. In patients affected by the disease, TFF3 was found in gastric cardia biopsies. In addition, it was certified that TFF3 and toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) signaling are connected to increase the integrity of the epithelium, since they modulate the expression of close-junction proteins. With this, it was found that TFF2 and TFF3 induce the release of interleukins (IL), such as IL-6 and IL-8. Therefore, it is concluded that even with a limited number of studies, it was possible to identify a correlation between the trefoil factor and gastroesophageal reflux disease, since the peptide TFF3 was present in biopsies of the cardia region of individuals with this pathology, causing inflammation of the gastroesophageal junction.