Relationship between hepatocellular carcinoma and depression via online database analysis

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Psychiatry
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• A potential bidirectional relationship exists between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and depression.
• The underlying biological mechanisms connecting HCC and depression remain largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the genetic interplay between HCC and depression using bioinformatics.
• To identify common genes, biological pathways, and potential therapeutic targets.

Main Methods:

• Utilized bioinformatics to identify overlapping genes between HCC and depression from public databases.
• Performed Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses.
• Analyzed gene expression and survival data using GEPIA and identified drug targets with DGIdb.

Main Results:

• Identified 199 common genes between HCC and depression.
• Enrichment analysis highlighted cell death, apoptosis, extracellular components, receptor binding, and inflammatory response pathways.
• IGF1, VEGFA, and SERPINE1 showed significant differences in expression and survival, with 45 drugs targeting VEGFA and SERPINE1.

Conclusions:

• The interaction between HCC and depression may be mediated by cell death or apoptosis pathways.
• VEGFA and SERPINE1 are potential key genes in the shared mechanism.
• Further research is warranted to validate these findings and explore therapeutic strategies.