Immune Infiltration Landscape on Identified Molecular Subtypes of Chronic Kidney Disease

Immune imbalance has become an important factor in the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Molecular typing of CKD may be key to achieving precise treatment. xCell allows immune cell phenotyping in CKD. We integrated two independent microarray datasets and divided 87 CKD patients into two subgroups using unsupervised consensus clustering to study the correlation between CKD and patient sex, age, and CKD stage. We found different expression patterns and clinical characteristics between the two groups. CKD stage was more advanced in cluster I than in cluster II, and the weighted gene coexpression network analysis module characteristics showed enrichment of interferon and leukocyte-associated immune pathways in cluster I. Differentially expressed gene analysis revealed the 12 most significantly changed genes, of which sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) was significantly downregulated in cluster I. Gene set enrichment analysis identified multiple immune-related processes involved in CKD. xCell immune infiltration analysis revealed the significant upregulation of natural killer T (NKT) cells and the significant downregulation of most T and B cell types in cluster I. SIRT1 showed a significant negative correlation with NKT cell infiltration but a positive correlation with CD4+ T cell and natural killer cell infiltration. We systematically studied the molecular typing of the CKD transcriptome and estimated the degree of immune cell infiltration based on molecular subtypes. Our results indicate that different subgroups may have unique gene expression patterns and immune dysregulation patterns, thus providing a basis for precise treatment and immune research in CKD.