HLA-DRB1 allele frequency and immunological response in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in Turkish population

Genetic overlap and immunological pathways in asthma-obstructive sleep apnea coexistence

PURPOSE

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and asthma are connected through similar epidemiology, clinical symptoms, pathophysiological features, and risk factors. However, the shared genetic basis of these conditions remains poorly understood. This study sought to identify risk genes that contribute to both OSA and asthma and to explore their associated biological pathways.

METHODS

This study was conducted using an in silico approach based on publicly available Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) data. Gene sets associated with OSA (2,159 genes) and asthma (786 genes) were manually curated from GWAS results. These lists were subsequently compared to identify intersecting genes, and their statistical significance was assessed using Fisher's Exact Test. Pathway enrichment analysis was conducted utilizing the Benjamini-Hochberg test with a significance threshold set at an adjusted p-value < 0.05.

RESULTS

A total of 187 genes overlapped between OSA and asthma, indicating a significantly higher occurrence than expected by chance. The pathway overrepresentation analysis of these intersecting genes identified processes associated with immune system functions, encompassing human leucocyte antigen (HLA), antigen presentation, cell differentiation, cell signaling, and positive regulation of inflammatory mediators.

CONCLUSION

This study unveils shared genetic mechanisms associated with OSA and asthma risks, highlighting intricate interactions within pathways governing immune response and inflammation. These findings provide a preliminary step toward understanding the genetic basis of this association; however, their clinical significance remains to be established. Further functional studies and validation in independent cohorts are needed to determine their potential relevance for biomarker development and immune-targeted therapeutic strategies.

Analysis of urine differential proteins in patients with allergic rhinitis

Background

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is one of the most common clinical allergic diseases. Early diagnosis and medical intervention will benefit patients with allergic rhinitis. In this study, we focused on changes in urine proteomics in AR patients to investigate their potential clinical utility in AR diagnosis and evaluation.

Material and methods

TMT-labeled mass spectrometry-based proteomics was carried out to identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in urine between allergic rhinitis patients and normal control groups. The molecular biological role of DEPs was investigated by Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis, and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis.

Results

Enrichment analysis showed that the differentially expressed proteins were mainly related to cell-cell adhesion, complement and coagulation cascades, peptidase activity regulation, MAP kinase activity, etc. Compared with the NC group, HLA-DRB1, WFDC12, and DEFA4, among the top ten up-regulated proteins in the urine of the AR group, were related to the biological process of the humoral immune response. Among the top 10 down-regulated proteins, GUSB, SQSTM1, and KIT are related to protein domain-specific binding in terms of molecular function.

Conclusions

We found differential protein changes between AR patients and normal subjects may be related to the pathophysiological changes of AR, which provides the possibility for further exploration of urinary proteomics biomarkers in the future.