The Diagnostic and Predictive Significance of Immune-Related Genes and Immune Characteristics in the Occurrence and Progression of IgA Nephropathy

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential diagnostic and predictive significance of immune-related genes in IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and discover the abnormal glomerular inflammation in IgAN. METHODS: GSE116626 was used as a training set to identify different immune-related genes (DIRGs) and establish machine learning models for the diagnosis of IgAN; then, a nomogram model was generated based on GSE116626, and GSE115857 was used as a test set to evaluate its clinical value. Short Time-Series Expression Miner (STEM) analysis was also performed to explore the changing trend of DIRGs with the progression of IgAN lesions. GSE141344 was used with DIRGs to establish the ceRNA network associated with IgAN progression. Finally, ssGSEA analysis was performed on the GSE141295 dataset to discover the abnormal inflammation in IgAN. RESULTS: Machine learning (ML) performed excellently in diagnosing IgAN using six DIRGs. A nomogram model was constructed to predict IgAN based on the six DIRGs. Three trends related to IgAN lesions were identified using STEM analysis. A ceRNA network associated with IgAN progression which contained 8 miRNAs, 14 lncRNAs, and 3 mRNAs was established. A higher macrophage ratio and lower CD4+ T cell ratio in IgAN compared to controls were observed, and the correlation between macrophages and monocytes in the glomeruli of IgAN patients was inverse compared to controls. CONCLUSION: This study reveals the diagnostic and predictive significance of DIRGs in IgAN and finds that the imbalance between macrophages and CD4+ immune cells may be an important pathomechanism of IgAN. These results provide potential directions for the treatment and prevention of IgAN.