Prediction of Coffee Effects in Rats with Healthy and NAFLD Conditions Based on Protein-Protein Interaction Network Analysis

Background and objectives: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common liver condition. On the other hand, coffee consumption has shown promising for gastrointestinal diseases.  Detection of the most valuable biomarkers of decaffeinated coffee treatment in healthy and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease conditions was the aim of the present study. Methods: A previous proteomics study about effect of decaffeinated coffee (1.5 mL daily drinking coffee for two months) on protein expression change of rat liver was selected for protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis via Cytoscape v.3.7.1 and the related applications. The most central proteins with regards to a high degree and betweenness centralities in the coffee treatment condition of healthy and NAFLD were then analyzed by ClueGO for biological process (BP) derivation. Results: HSPA5, HSPA4, HSPA9, HSPA7, PARK7, HSP90AA1, P4HB, PRDX1, and PDIA3 were introduced as central proteins, which are involved in folding and antioxidant activities. Conclusion:  There is a complicated combination of the components in coffee; some elements are involved in liver protection against NAFLD and the others are in contrast.