Gene expression profiles reveal key pathways and genes associated with neuropathic pain in patients with spinal cord injury

Previous gene expression profiling studies of neuropathic pain (NP) following spinal cord injury (SCI) have predominantly been performed in animal models. The present study aimed to investigate gene alterations in patients with spinal cord injury and to further examine the mechanisms underlying NP following SCI. The GSE69901 gene expression profile was downloaded from the public Gene Expression Omnibus database. Samples of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) derived from 12 patients with intractable NP and 13 control patients without pain were analyzed to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), followed by functional enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction. In addition, a transcriptional regulation network was constructed and functional gene clustering was performed. A total of 70 upregulated and 61 downregulated DEGs were identified in the PBMC samples from patients with NP. The upregulated and downregulated genes were significantly involved in different Gene Ontology terms and pathways, including focal adhesion, T cell receptor signaling pathway and mitochondrial function. Glycogen synthase kinase 3 β (GSK3B) was identified as a hub protein in the PPI network. In addition, ornithine decarboxylase 1 (ODC1) and ornithine aminotransferase (OAT) were regulated by additional transcription factors in the regulation network. GSK3B, OAT and ODC1 were significantly enriched in two functional gene clusters, the function of mitochondrial membrane and DNA binding. Focal adhesion and the T cell receptor signaling pathway may be significantly linked with NP, and GSK3B, OAT and ODC1 may be potential targets for the treatment of NP.