The role of gastroesophageal reflux disease in interstitial lung diseases: focus on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and sarcoidosis

Abstract Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is often reported in patients with interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), and sarcoidosis. This narrative review summarizes the reports focusing on the association between GERD and these ILD subtypes, with emphasis on clinical manifestations, potential mechanisms, and therapeutic strategies. GERD has been corroborated with respiratory symptoms and certain disease severity factors in IPF, providing evidence for a potential causative association. Such findings, however, do not establish that IPF is prevented or altered by GERD treatment. In HP and sarcoidosis, GERD may coexist with the underlying disease and contribute to symptom burden, but evidence for effects on disease progression remains limited. The proposed mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of reflux-related airway irritation and its potential contribution to respiratory disease remain incompletely established. Overall, current evidence supports an association between GERD and selected ILDs, but its clinical and therapeutic significance remains uncertain.