OBJECTIVES: To elucidate the neuroimmune regulatory mechanism of the circadian rhythm gene KLF10 as a biomarker for anxiety depressive disorder (ADD).
METHODS: The differentially expressed circadian rhythm genes were screened using human peripheral blood gene chip data from the GEO database (including 64 healthy individuals, 62 patients with major depressive disorder [MDD], and 59 with ADD) in conjunction with the MSigDB database. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis and machine learning models were employed to identify the core genes, followed by KEGG pathway enrichment analysis and evaluation of their diagnostic efficacy using ROC curves. In a male SD rat model of ADD induced by chronic restraint and corticosterone stress, the changes in depressive-like behaviors, hippocampal and amygdala pathologies, levels of inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines, co-localization of KLF10 and p-p65 expression, and expression levels of NF‑κB/NLRP3 pathway molecules were examined following stereotactic AAV virus injection into the lateral ventricle for KLF10 overexpression.
RESULTS: Compared with healthy individuals, the depressive patients showed differential expressions of 9 circadian rhythm genes. Compared with the MDD patients, the patients with ADD had significantly higher immune infiltration scores with upregulated NOD-like receptor and NF‑κB signaling pathways. The specific biomarker KLF10 demonstrated a diagnostic efficacy of 0.885. In the rat models of AOD, KLF10 overexpression significantly ameliorated depression- and anxiety-like behaviors, restored the balance between the pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and improved hippocampal and amygdala pathologies. KLF10 overexpression also markedly upregulated NFKBIA mRNA, downregulated NLRP3 and RELA mRNAs, and reduced protein expressions of p-IκB‑α, p-p65, and NLRP3 in the brain tissues of the rats.
CONCLUSIONS: KLF10 overexpression ameliorates ADD behaviors in rats by inhibiting hippocampal-amygdala inflammationdownregulating the NF‑κB/NLRP3 pathway, suggesting the potential of KLF10 as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for AOD. via
