Lipid Metabolism Participates in Human Membranous Nephropathy Identified by Whole-genome Gene Expression Profiling

In this study, gene expression profiling using renal cortex tissue from iMN patients and healthy controls was conducted; differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were filtered out, and 167 up- and 291 downregulated genes were identified as overlapping differentially expressed genes (ODEGs). Moreover, enrichment analysis and protein-protein network construction were performed, revealing enrichment of genes mainly in cholesterol metabolism and arachidonic acid metabolism, among others, with 38 hub genes obtained. Furthermore, we found several associations between circulating lipid concentrations and hub gene signal intensities in the renal cortex. Our findings indicate that lipid metabolism, including cholesterol metabolism and arachidonic acid metabolism, may participate in iMN pathogenesis through key genes, including APOA1, APOB, APOC3, CETP, and PLA2G12B.
Source: Clinical Science - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Tags: PublishAheadOfPrint Source Type: research