Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Approach to Identify the Pathogenetic Link Between Psoriasis and Cardiovascular Disease

Liping Shi; Xiaoqing Du; Jing Li; Guoqiang Zhang

doi:10.2147/CCID.S421193

Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Approach to Identify the Pathogenetic Link Between Psoriasis and Cardiovascular Disease

Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2023 Aug 22:16:2283-2295. doi: 10.2147/CCID.S421193. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Liping Shi^{1

2}, Xiaoqing Du³, Jing Li^{1

2}, Guoqiang Zhang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dermatology, The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, People's Republic of China.
² Candidate Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Skin Diseases, Shijiazhuang, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Dermatology, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to identify hub genes and common pathways shared between psoriasis and cardiovascular disease (CVD) using bioinformatics analysis and predict the transcription factors (TFs) of hub genes.

Methods: GSE133555 data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between involved and uninvolved skin lesions in psoriasis, employing the limma package in R. Additionally, CVD-related genes were obtained from the GeneCards database. The intersection of DEGs and CVD-related genes yielded CVD-DEGs. Gene Ontology and signaling pathway analyses were performed using the clusterProfiler package in R. Hub genes were identified by intersecting six algorithms in the CytoHubba plugin of Cytoscape. To identify potential biomarkers, the GSE14905 dataset was subjected to receiver operating characteristic analysis, resulting in the identification of eight central hub genes. Finally, the NetworkAnalyst web tool was used to identify the TFs of the eight hub genes.

Results: We identified 92 significant DEGs out of 1825 CVD-related genes in psoriasis obtained from the GSE13355 and GeneCard data. Functional enrichment analysis revealed the involvement of these genes in various signaling pathways, including the interleukin-17 signaling, tumor necrosis factor signaling, lipid and atherosclerosis, chemokine signaling, and cytokine signaling pathways in the immune system. The eight hub genes identified included interleukin-1 beta, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, C-C motif chemokine ligand 2, arginase 1, C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4, cyclin D1, and matrix metallopeptidase 9, with forkhead box C1 also identified as an associated TF of these genes. These hub genes and TF may act as key regulators in the context of CVD.

Conclusion: This study identified several hub genes and signaling pathways associated with both CVD and psoriasis. These findings lay the groundwork for potential therapeutic interventions for patients with psoriasis affected by CVD.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease; gene expression omnibus; psoriasis; signaling pathway.

Grants and funding

This work is supported by Medical science research project of Hebei Province Health Commission (20190470 and 20231294).