Clinical and Translational Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Mar 26, 2024; 12(9): 1622-1633
Published online Mar 26, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i9.1622
Exploring the autophagy-related pathogenesis of active ulcerative colitis
Zhuo-Zhi Gong, Teng Li, He Yan, Min-Hao Xu, Yue Lian, Yi-Xuan Yang, Wei Wei, Tao Liu
Zhuo-Zhi Gong, Teng Li, He Yan, Yue Lian, Wei Wei, Tao Liu, Wangjing Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100102, China
Min-Hao Xu, College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100102, China
Yi-Xuan Yang, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China
Author contributions: Gong ZZ and Li T designed and supervised this study, wrote the manuscript; Yan H collated the data; Xu MH and Lian Y analyzed the data; Wei W and Liu T supervised this study and guided the revision of the article; all authors approved the final version of the article.
Institutional review board statement: The data of this study are publicly available on the GEO database, Human Autophagy database.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no competing interests.
Data sharing statement: The data of this study are publicly available on the GEO database, Human Autophagy database.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Tao Liu, PhD, Associate Professor, Chief Doctor, Wangjing Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Huajiadi Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100102, China. ltlyf2@163.com
Received: January 7, 2024
Peer-review started: January 7, 2024
First decision: January 16, 2024
Revised: January 23, 2024
Accepted: February 27, 2024
Article in press: February 27, 2024
Published online: March 26, 2024
Processing time: 78 Days and 1 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: This study used bioinformatics to explore the autophagy-related pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC) during its active phase. A total of 58 differentially expressed autophagy-related genes (DEARGs) were found in gene expression datasets from UC patients and healthy controls. Of these, SERPINA1, BAG3, HSPA5, CASP1, and CX3CL1 were identified as core targets. Enrichment analysis highlighted the involvement of DEARGs in autophagy regulation, and macroautophagy, in addition to NOD-like receptor signaling and other pathways. These DEARGs were also shown to be associated with diseases like malignant glioma and middle cerebral artery occlusion. Immune infiltration analysis revealed an increased presence of immune cells, including activated memory CD4 T cells and follicular helper T cells in active UC patients than in healthy controls. This study suggests that autophagy plays a significant role in the active phase of UC and identifies potential targets for novel UC treatments.