Vitamin D Deficiency Promotes Intestinal Autophagy Dysfunction via Epigenetic Regulation of ATG16L1

the study period, 169 met inclusion criteria and 80 (47%) were enrolled.Mean age was 56±12y and the majority of patients were obese (mean body mass index 39±8 kg/m 2 ) and female (71%).At 4-6 weeks after enrollment, 66/80 (83%) remained on PPI therapy; the majority (59%) were on chronic PPI therapy (defined as >8 weeks use at time of enrollment).Of the 66 on PPI therapy, 52 (79%) were adherent and 54 (82%) were PPI responders.PPI response was significantly more common amongst those on chronic PPI therapy (p=0.02).Among the 54 PPI responders, 24 (44%) were willing to taper their PPI (Figure 2).Of the 15 patients who underwent a PPI taper with follow-up to date, 9 (60%) have completely discontinued PPI, 3 (20%) are on a reduced dose, and 3 (20%) remain on their baseline dose, equating to a reduction of 5.2 pills per week per person.Conclusions: Fewer than 50% of PPI responsive patients were willing to taper PPI therapy.However, of those who underwent a PPI taper, 80% had no recurrence of GERD symptoms after reduction or cessation of their PPI dose.Pragmatic PPI programs can successfully enforce adherence and reduce PPI dependence.Further work is needed to understand barriers to adherence and willingness to taper PPI therapy.