Gastroenterological Manifestations of Immunoglobulin G Subclass 4-Related Disease—Epidemiology, Clinical Manifestations, Diagnosis and Treatment

Abstract

Despite causing high morbidity, IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) and its gastroenterological manifestations lack better and greater theoretical contributions. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate the clinical–epidemiological, diagnostic and treatment aspects of the gastrointestinal manifestations of this disease. A systematic review was carried out using the PubMed, Scopus and Embase databases between January 2012 and March 2023 with the following descriptors: “Immunoglobulin G4-Related Disease” (MeSH) AND #2 “Gastrointestinal Tract” (MeSH). Our data collection grouped a total of 3607 patients from mostly epidemiological cohort studies and cross-sectional follow-ups. In the subgroup analysis, IgG4-RD was associated with male gender, with an estimated prevalence between 54% and 80%. In our findings, the prevalence by topography was presented in the following ranges: lacrimal glands (17–57%); salivary glands (28–72%); pancreas (19–60%); biliary tract (5–40%); retroperitoneal cavity (9–43%). Longitudinal studies are needed to better map the natural history of the gastrointestinal manifestations of IgG4-RD and enable the formulation of individualized treatments.

Keywords

• diagnosis
• immunoglobulin G4-related disease
• gastrointestinal tract
• epidemiology
• systematic review