Highlighted role of “IL17 Signaling Pathway” in gastroesophageal reflux disease

The aim of this study is to assess the molecular profile of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) via Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis and gene ontology (GO) investigation.

GERD which affects the life of about 30% of people is associated with high costs in the human papulation. Several risk factors such as smoking, eating habits, BMI, and dysfunction of lower esophageal sphincter have been reported to contribute to the onset and progression of GERD. The roles of some types of interleukins and inflammatory factors as molecular features of GERD are investigated.

Genes related to GERD were analyzed by Cytoscape v.3.7.2 and the corresponding plug-ins. ClueGO and CluePedia assessed the gene ontology and action type properties for the central nodes.

The results indicated that there are 12 hub-bottlenecks almost all of which except ALB are dispersed in the network clusters 1 and 2. Il17 signaling pathway among 7 identified biochemical pathways was also detected as a most related annotation for these central genes.

Numbers of 11 critical genes and one pathway (IL17 signaling pathway) were highlighted as the deregulate genes and pathway in GERD. Common molecular features of GERD and cancer appeared.