Determination of eosinophilic esophagitis

1. A method for diagnosing and treating eosinophilic esophagitis in a patient in need thereof, the method comprising

(i) measuring the gene expression level for at least one gene in an esophageal biopsy sample from the patient, the at least one gene selected from the group consisting of: chemokine ligand 26; periostin, osteoblast specific factor; tumor necrosis factor, alpha-induced protein 6; cadherin-like 26; arachidonate 15-lipoxygenase; pro-melanin-concentrating hormone; chemokine ligand 1; immunoglobulin lambda joining 3; transmembrane protein 16A; apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like 3A; immunoglobulin heavy constant gamma 1; FLJ16025protein; ubiquitin D; immunoglobulin J polypeptide, linker protein for immunoglobulin; hypothetical protein FLJ33069; carboxypeptidase A3; similar to immunoglobulin kappa light chain variable region 011; Charcot-Leyden crystal protein; hypothetical protein MGC27165; pleckstrin homology-like domain, family B, member 2; hypothetical protein FLJ23259; immunoglobulin kappa constant; epiplakin1; and chemokine ligand 6,

wherein the measuring the gene expression level is performed by a method comprising DNA microarray analysis, polymerase chain reaction analysis, or both,

(ii) comparing the gene expression level for the at least one gene to its expression level in an esophageal biopsy sample from a normal individual defined as having zero eosinophils per high power field and no basal layer expansion;

(iii) diagnosing eosinophilic esophagitis in the patient where the expression level of the at least one gene is increased more than 10-fold compared to its expression level in the esophageal biopsy sample from a normal individual,

and

(iv) treating the eosinophilic esophagitis in the patient diagnosed according to step (iii) with one or more therapies selected from an anti-inflammatory therapy, allergen elimination, and an eotaxin-3 and/or CCR3 blocker.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of measuring gene the expression level is carried out using an oligonucleotide-based DNA microarray chip.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of extracting RNA from the esophageal biopsy sample.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising a step of converting the RNA to cDNA.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising a step of converting the cDNA to biotinylated cRNA.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising hybridizing the biotinylated cRNA to an oligonucleotide-based DNA microarray chip.