User:Protein9781/Laryngopharyngeal reflux

== Additionally, several potential biomarkers of LPR have been investigated. These include inflammatory cytokines, carbonic anyhydrase, E-cadherin and mucins; however, their direct implications in LPR are still being established. The presence of pepsin, an enzyme produced in the stomach, in the hypopharynx has also become an increasingly researched biomarker for LPR. Research suggests that the stomach enzyme pepsin plays a crucial role in the complex mechanism behind LPR. Once present in the larynx pepsin is active at a low pH, but persists even when inactive. Pepsin can manifest both extracellularly and intracellularly; however, damage is realized differently in these two environments. Intracellularly, pepsin enters the laryngeal tissue through endocytosis and causes damage that accumulates over time. Pepsin has implications on cellular transcription and therefore, gene expression, which subsequently leads to the recruitment of inflammatory cells, but inhibition of protective mechanisms such as growth factors. Structurally, pepsin plays a role in increasing viscosity of the vibratory portion of the vocal folds and decreasing cellular water retention, which reduces the overall thickness of the vocal folds. These morphological changes result in decreased vibratory amplitude, increasing demands for initiating vibration and ultimately, impacting voice quality.

Before a diagnosis can be made, a physician will need to record the patient's medical history and ask for details about the presenting symptoms. Questionnaires such as the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI), Quality-of-Life Index (QLI) for LPR, Glottal Closure/Function Index (GCI) and Voice Handicap Index (VHI) can be administered to gain information about the patient's medical history as well as their symptomatology. A physical examination will then need to be performed with particular concentration around the head and neck. A scope with a specialized camera lens made of fiber optic strands is gently fed down the throat and feeds back images to a monitor. This provides a clear view of the throat and larynx. Signs of LPR include redness, swelling, and obvious irritation. Other, more invasive tests, such as fibre-optic transnasal laryngoscopy, 24-hour ambulatory dual probe pHmetry, pharyngeal pHmetry, transnasal esophagoscopy (TNE) and biopsy may be used. A noninvasive test for diagnosis of LPR is the collection of refluxate where the refluxed material is collected and analyzed. Another noninvasive diagnostic test that can be used is an empirical trial of proton-pump inhibitor therapy; however, this test is mostly successful in diagnosing GERDArticle Draft ==