Exploring the Potential Value of Inflammatory Response-Associated Genes in Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps: An Integrated Bioinformatics and Experimental Validation Analysis.

OBJECTIVE

Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is a heterogeneous chronic inflammatory disease with unclear pathogenesis and a high recurrence rate. Inflammatory response-related genes (IRGs) play a key role in disease progression but remain to be further explored in CRSwNP.

METHODS

CRSwNP-related transcriptome datasets and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. IRGs were derived from the Molecular Signatures Database (MSigDB). Core genes were screened using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, and the expression of the core genes was experimentally validated. The CIBERSORT algorithm was applied to analyze the correlation between core genes and immune cell infiltration. scRNA-seq data were used to explore the expression patterns of core genes in different cell subsets. Finally, Connectivity Map (CMap) and molecular docking were combined to predict potential therapeutic drugs for CRSwNP.

RESULTS

A total of 96 key genes were identified through differential expression analysis and WGCNA, which were mainly enriched in the IL-17 signaling pathway, chemokine-cytokine interaction, and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathways. Among them, FOXP3, C5AR1 and LIF can serve as effective prognostic predictors for CRSwNP. CIBERSORT analysis showed that activated CD4⁺ memory T cells and M2-type macrophages were significantly enriched in CRSwNP tissues. CMap analysis predicted that bicuculline had potential therapeutic value for CRSwNP.

CONCLUSION

FOXP3, C5AR1 and LIF could serve as diagnostic biomarkers for CRSwNP and may participate in the pathogenesis of CRSwNP by regulating inflammatory responses and immune cell infiltration, which provides novel insights into clarifying the etiology and pathogenesis of CRSwNP.