Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a diffuse connective tissue disease mediated by autoimmunity and characterized by immune inflammation. The purpose of this study is to explore candidate key genes and immune cell infiltration involved in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus. Intersection genes derived from differentially expressed genes between systemic lupus erythematosus patients and healthy individuals are identified by weighted gene co-expression network analysis of module genes were aimed for gene ontology functional enrichment analysis and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes pathway enrichment analysis. The key candidate genes interferon induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 1 and interferon induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 3 were searched through the protein-protein interaction network. The cell-type identification by estimating relative subsets of ribonucleic acid transcripts arithmetic tool assessed the abundance of immune cells in samples from systemic lupus erythematosus patients. Enzymelinked immunosorbent assay confirmed the differential expression of candidate genes in serum samples from systemic lupus erythematosus patients and healthy controls. This study found that interferon induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 1 and interferon induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 3 may devote to the pathogenesis and development of systemic lupus erythematosus and can be used as prediction target genes of systemic lupus erythematosus. In addition, neutrophils and plasma cells were infiltrated more in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with high expression of interferon induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 1 and interferon induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 3. Interferon induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 1 and interferon induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 3 are important predictors for the diagnosis and treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.