The possible mechanisms of trans fatty acid effects on digestive disorders based on computational toxicology: a case study of elaidic acid

Trans fatty acids (TFAs) are potential health risk factors generated during food processing, and their mechanisms of association with digestive diseases remain incompletely elucidated. This study focused on elaidic acid (EA), integrating computational toxicology and molecular docking to systematically analyze its molecular mechanisms in regulating functional dyspepsia (FD), gastric cancer (GC), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and colorectal cancer (CRC) through multi-target networks. Protein Interaction Networks were constructed by screening EA and disease-intersecting targets, enriching and analyzing key pathways, and validating the binding ability of core targets. Results showed that EA shared 22, 67, 56, and 72 common targets with FD, GC, NAFLD, and CRC, respectively. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses indicated that EA acts through pathways including lipid metabolism dysregulation, inflammatory response, and chemical carcinogenesis-receptor activation. Molecular docking confirmed binding affinities between EA and core targets. The present study suggests that EA may promote the progression of digestive diseases through a multi-target-multi-pathway model, providing a new perspective for the study of the toxicity mechanism of TFA and food safety prevention and control.