Bell’s Palsy May Associate with Increased IL1R1: A Pilot Novel Gene and lncRNA Study

Background: Bell’s palsy is a widespread disease of the peripheral nervous system which causes not only physical disorders but also mental suffering as well. However, the etiological factor of Bell’s palsy is still unclear. The present study aimed to search for potential influencing factors by identifying the key genes and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) involved in patients with Bell’s palsy using RNA-Seq data based on bioinformatics tools. Methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) in patients before and after therapy, and that in normal control group were identified. The competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) regulatory network was constructed by integrating lncRNA-mRNA pairs, miRNA-mRNA regulatory pairs, and miRNA-lncRNA pairs using Cytoscape. The Gene Ontology (GO) functions and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways analyses of DEGs and DELs were evaluated to explore their functions. The targeted corresponding genes and pathogens were verified by ELISA and q-PCR. Results: In the present study, hub proteins such as CXCR2 and IL1R1 in PPI network and 1039 lncRNA-mRNA co-expression pairs (eg., CYYR1-AS1-MDM2) were identified. 739 miRNA-mRNA pairs (eg., hsa-miR-147a-IL1R1), 255 miRNA-lncRNA pairs, and 363 mRNA-lncRNA co-expression pairs were included in ceRNA regulatory network. Meanwhile, CYYR1-AS1 was enriched into most pathways, including Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Subsequently, validation of neuroinflammation relevant IL1R1 and EBV showed that IL1R1 was upregulated in the serum of patients with Bell’s palsy before therapy, while EBV was not found among them. Conclusion: We hypothesized that etiological factor of Bell's palsy correlate to complex miRNA-lncRNA-mRNA interacting networks and IL1 might be involved in inflammation and immune regulation in the onset of Bell's palsy.