Revealing potential interfering genes between abdominal aortic aneurysm and periodontitis through machine learning and bioinformatics analysis

This study aimed to identify potential interacting genes between abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and periodontitis. To achieve this, we obtained datasets of AAA and periodontitis from the GEO database, conducted differential analysis on the AAA dataset, and performed weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) on the periodontitis dataset to preliminarily identify interacting genes via intersection. Subsequently, we refined key candidate genes by constructing a PPI network and applying three machine learning algorithms. These candidate genes were further validated through external independent datasets, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and Nomograms. Finally, single-gene Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), immune landscape analysis, and targeted drug prediction were performed on the identified key genes. In our study, a total of 323 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to AAA and 4,412 periodontitis-related module genes were identified, producing 90 interacting genes through intersection initially. Through PPI network analysis and machine learning, we prioritized 7 key interacting genes. Validation confirmed that IL1B, PTGS2, and SELL were robustly associated with both diseases. Immune landscape assessment demonstrated that these three genes exhibited significant negative correlations with regulatory T cells (Tregs) and positive correlations with neutrophil infiltration. Additionally, ten drugs with the highest predicted target specificity were identified. In conclusion, we utilized various machine learning and bioinformatics approaches to preliminarily elucidate potential comorbid mechanisms between AAA and periodontitis from a multidisciplinary perspective.