Integrative Transcriptomic Analysis of Obesity-Associated Candidate Genes in Pediatric Adipose Tissue

Tryptophan metabolism has been linked to pediatric obesity, although the transcriptomic evidence connecting obesity-associated genes with this pathway remains limited. Two public subcutaneous adipose tissue datasets, GSE205668 and GSE104815, were analyzed. GSE205668 included 26 obesity and 35 control samples, and GSE104815 included 4 obesity and 4 control samples. Differential expression screening, weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA), exploratory coexpression enrichment, immune score analysis, and regulatory network prediction were performed. Four candidate genes, APOL4, FASN, KRT79, and MACROD1, emerged from the exploratory intersection analysis. Their expression was higher in control samples than in obesity samples in both public datasets. Results derived from nominal p-value screens are interpreted as exploratory. The literature-derived tryptophan-related WGCNA score is considered separately from the canonical Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) tryptophan-metabolism pathway. These findings define obesity-associated transcriptomic candidates in pediatric adipose tissue and do not establish direct participation of the four genes in tryptophan metabolism or a causal role in obesity.