Integrated bioinformatic analysis of gene expression profiling data to identify combinatorial biomarkers in inflammatory skin disease

Selection of appropriate biomarker to identify inflammatory skin diseases is complicated by the involvement of thousands of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across multiple cell types and organs. This study aimed to identify combinatorial biomarkers in inflammatory skin diseases. From one gene expression microarray profiling dataset, we performed bioinformatic analyses on dataset from lesional skin biopsies of patients with inflammatory skin diseases (atopic dermatitis [AD], contact eczema [KE], lichen planus [Li], psoriasis vulgaris [Pso]) and healthy controls to identify the involved pathways, predict upstream regulators, and potential measurable extracellular biomarkers. Overall, 434, 629, 581, and 738 DEGs were mapped in AD, KE, Li, and Pso, respectively; 238 identified DEGs were shared among four different inflammatory skin diseases. Bioinformatic analysis on four inflammatory skin diseases showed significant activation of pathways with known pathogenic relevance. Common upstream regulators, with upregulated predicted activity, identified were CNR1 and BMP4. We found the following common serum biomarkers: ACR, APOE, ASIP, CRISP1, DKK1, IL12B, IL9, MANF, MDK, NRTN, PCSK5, and VEGFC. Considerable differences of gene expression changes, involved pathways, upstream regulators, and biomarkers were found in different inflammatory skin diseases. Integrated bioinformatic analysis identified 12 potential common biomarkers of inflammatory skin diseases requiring further evaluation.