title: Nickel sensitivity in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Various foods play important role in the pathogenesis of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). These foods are shown to increase gastroesophageal reflux symptoms via various mechanisms and majority of these foods also contain nickel. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between Nickel sensitivity and GERD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-four patients diagnosed with GERD and 50 healthy volunteers who were admitted to our gastroenterology outpatient clinic were took part in the study. European standard patch test series, nickel-containing test units and corticosteroids were applied to the patient body; upper back. Evaluation was performed according to the scheme of the International Contact Dermatitis Research Group (ICDRG). The positive and negative reactions were recorded at the hours of 48, 72 and 96. Following the test implementations, 7 days later, the tests were reevaluated for late reactions. Statistics package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 17 package program was used for statistical evaluation and results of tests were compared between groups with the Chi-squared test. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individuals in both groups were statistically similar in terms of age and gender. Nickel sensitivity was found to be positive in 48.2 and %22 of the GERD patients and control group, respectively. Difference between groups was statistically significant (p = 0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nickel sensitivity was significantly higher in GERD patients compared to the control group. In addition to imbalance between defensive and aggressive forces of the esophagus, there seems to be an association between nickel sensitivity and GERD.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Dermatology , Kocaeli Derince Education and Research Hospital , Kocaeli , Turkey.
authors.forename: Nurşad
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aslan
authors.affiliation: b Department of Gastroenterology , Kocaeli Derince Education and Research Hospital , Kocaeli , Turkey , and.
authors.forename: Mesut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sezikli
authors.affiliation: c Department of Dermatology , Near East University , Nicosia , Cyprus.
authors.forename: Emel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Erdal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003877:Dermatitis, Contact / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009532:Nickel / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010328:Patch Tests
chemical_list: D009532:Nickel
keywords: Reflux; food; nickel; patch test