RNA-seq reveals Lysyl oxidase as a potential biomarker of glomerular function in diabetic nephropathy in rats

Purpose: We downloaded the gene expression profiles of patients with diabetic nephropathyfrom the GEO database and combined it with differential gene analysis of rat transcriptome,our study employed animal models to examine the role of key hub genes in diabetic nephropathy and to pinpoint significant gene regulation in this disease. Methods: An examination of differential expression was performed using the online analysis tool GEO2R and the DN-related datasets GSE30528 and GSE1009 obtained from the GEO database. A comparison of gene expression between the normal and diabetic nephropathy groups was conducted using the RNA-seq technique. We further examined body weightchanges and detected the levels of blood glucose, 24-hour urine microalbumin, and expression ofIL-6 and TNF-alpha.We also measured the levels of Lysyl oxidase (LOX) using quantitative real-time PCR and western blotting. Results: We found that LOX was among the top 10 significantly differentially expressed genes in both the GEO database and transcriptome. Moreover, the levels of fasting blood glucose,24-h urine microalbumin, and expression of TNF-alpha and IL-6 were significantlyincreasedin the DNthanin the normal group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that the LOX gene is extensively expressed in diabetic nephropathy,with significantly upregulated expression and accompanying notable physiological markers such as TNF-alpha, IL-6, fasting blood glucose, and 24-hour urine microalbumin. The observed alterations indicate that the LOX gene has a potential biomarker function in the advancement of the disease.