Identification of diagnostic biomarkers for acute respiratory distress syndrome-related pulmonary fibrosis based on boinformatics

doi:10.3877/cma.j.issn.1674-6902.2025.04.007

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective

Currently, there is a lack of clinically applicable diagnostic biomarkers for pulmonary fibrosis (PF) associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This study aimed to identify PF-related genes in ARDS through transcriptomic analysis and explore potential diagnostic biomarkers for ARDS-associated pulmonary fibrosis (ARDS-PF).

Methods

Transcriptomic datasets GSE190496 (ARDS-PF) and GSE10667 (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis) were jointly analyzed from the GEO database to identify common differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed to investigate the functions of DEGs. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using the STRING database, and key hub genes were identified with the cytoHubba plugin in Cytoscape. The identified hub genes were validated in the ARDS-PF transcriptomic dataset GSE206788. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the hub genes.

Results

A total of 234 common DEGs were identified, including 132 upregulated and 102 downregulated genes. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses revealed that these genes were mainly involved in biological processes and pathways such as collagen formation, extracellular matrix (ECM) collagen deposition, ECM-receptor interaction, focal adhesion, and the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. The PPI network constructed via STRING and analyzed with Cytoscape identified 10 hub genes: COL1A1, COL1A2, COL3A1, COL5A2, CXCL12, IGF1, MMP2, SPP1, PTGS2, and THBS2. Among them, 9 hub genes were significantly differentially expressed in GSE206788 (P<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that COL1A1, COL1A2, COL3A1, CXCL12, IGF1, SPP1, and PTGS2 had AUC≥0.9 (P<0.01).

Conclusion

COL1A1, COL1A2, COL3A1, CXCL12, IGF1, SPP1, and PTGS2 may serve as potential diagnostic biomarkers for ARDS-PF.

Key words: Acute respiratory distress syndrome, Pulmonary fibrosis, Transcriptomics, Biomarker

Xue Tian, Dongpo Wei, Xiaoxiao Meng, Hui Xie, Ruilan Wang. Identification of diagnostic biomarkers for acute respiratory distress syndrome-related pulmonary fibrosis based on boinformatics[J]. Chinese Journal of Lung Diseases(Electronic Edition), 2025, 18(04): 534-539.

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References 21

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