Identification of key genes associated with age difference in osteoarthritis under weight loss intervention: based on bioinformatics analysis

Background: The aim of this study was to identify the key genes that changed after weight loss intervention in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) at different ages by identifying differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Methods GSE114007 and GSE158850 gene expression data were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, DEGs were found using R software, and overlapping DEGs were obtained. The results were screened and validated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and boxplot. The immune cell infiltration and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) of the two genes were analyzed. Results There were two overlapping DEGs between OA dataset with the young group of obese men who had weight loss intervention, after screening, MAFB was remaining. There were two overlapping DEGS with the aged group, and the remaining one was BPGM. The results of immunological cell infiltration showed that these two genes were associated with macrophages. Enrichment analysis showed that MAFB was associated with the “Linoleic acid metabolism” pathway in both datasets. Conclusion MAFB and BPGM may be the therapeutic targets for obese patients with OA, and may be the indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of intervention.