Transcriptomic Analysis of Peripheral Blood-Induced Microglia-like Cells Reveals an IL1B-Centric Inflammatory Network in Panic Disorder.

BACKGROUND

Panic disorder (PD) lacks objective biomarkers, and its neuroimmune mechanisms remain unclear. Induced microglia‑like cells (iMGs) derived from peripheral blood provide an emerging model to study peripheral‑central immune mechanisms in PD.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize the peripheral immune transcriptomic signature and core regulatory network in PD using iMG transcriptomic data.

METHODS

Differential expression analysis, functional enrichment, protein‑protein interaction (PPI) network construction, and hub gene screening were performed on the GEO dataset GSE212802 (iMGs from 14 PD patients and 10 healthy controls).

RESULTS

A total of 255 DEGs (113 up-regulated and 142 down-regulated) were identified from the transcriptomic profiles. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that these DEGs were significantly associated with immune and inflammatory pathways, most notably the "cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction" and "chemokine signaling pathway." PPI network and topological analysis further identified IL1B as the top hub gene, forming a core inflammatory module with other key factors such as IL10, CCL3, and CXCL5. This transcriptomic evidence provides a mechanistic basis for the observed elevation of peripheral blood IL‑1β protein levels in PD patients and underscores the centrality of IL1B-driven inflammatory networks in PD pathophysiology.

CONCLUSION

Integrated bioinformatics analysis of the iMG model identifies IL1B as a central hub within a dysregulated inflammatory network in PD. Targeting this network may offer potential avenues for therapeutic development and biomarker discovery.