Transcriptome Analysis Identifies Biomarkers for the Diagnosis and Management of Psoriasis Complicated with Depression

Xichun Xia; Hai Yu; Yanxiang Li; Yunting Liang; Guangqiang Li; Fang Huang

doi:10.2147/CCID.S413887

Transcriptome Analysis Identifies Biomarkers for the Diagnosis and Management of Psoriasis Complicated with Depression

Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2023 May 18:16:1287-1301. doi: 10.2147/CCID.S413887. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xichun Xia^#^{1

2}, Hai Yu^#³, Yanxiang Li², Yunting Liang¹, Guangqiang Li², Fang Huang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dermatology, Zhuhai People's Hospital (Zhuhai Hospital Affiliated with Jinan University), Jinan University, Zhuhai, 519050, People's Republic of China.
² The Biomedical Translational Research Institute, Health Science Center (School of Medicine), Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Dermatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510632, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: Psoriasis is a systemic inflammatory disease, and the mechanism that links psoriasis to depression is still elusive. Hence, this study aimed to elucidate the potential pathogenesis of psoriasis and depression comorbidity.

Methods: The gene expression profiles of psoriasis (GSE34248, GSE78097 and GSE161683) and depression (GSE39653) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) DataSets. Functional annotation, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and module construction, and hub gene identification and co-expression analysis were performed, following identification of the common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of psoriasis and depression.

Results: A total of 115 common DEGs (55 up-regulated and 60 down-regulated) were identified between psoriasis and depression. Functional analysis indicated that T cell activation and differentiation were predominantly implicated in the potential pathogenesis of these two diseases. In addition, Th17 cell differentiation and cytokines is closely related to both. Finally, 17 hub genes were screened, including CTLA4, LCK, ITK, IL7R, CD3D, SOCS1, IL4R, PRKCQ, SOCS3, IL23A, PDGFB, PAG1, TGFA, FGFR1, RELN, ITGB5 and TNXB, which re-emphasized the importance of the immune system in psoriasis and depression.

Conclusion: Our study reveals the common pathogenesis of psoriasis and depression. These common pathways and hub genes may apply to a molecular screening tool for depression in psoriasis patients, which could help dermatologists optimize patient management in routine care.

Keywords: bioinformatics; depression; differentially expressed genes; hub genes; psoriasis.

Grants and funding

This work is supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 82103722, to XX, grant 82103542, to GL), GuangDong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (grant 2020A1515110052, to XX), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2022M723699, to XX) and the Postdoctoral Fund of Zhuhai People’s Hospital (grant BSHQD2022090006, BSHQD2023020001 to XX).