Evaluation of Long-Term Treatment with Ginkgo biloba Extract on Hepatocellular Carcinoma: a Network Analysis Study

Background and objectives: Ginkgo biloba extract with beneficial effects to treat some diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and nervous system disorders has wide spread application in medicine. Due to several side effects of G. biloba extract consumption, gene expression profiles of the long term treated mouse liver was analyzed via protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. Methods: Data about effect of G. biloba effects on liver of treated mice was extracted from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Gene expression profiles of three groups of samples including; normal, hepatocellular carcinoma, and the treated samples with G. biloba extract were compared. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed via directed PPI network to find the crucial actor genes. Results: A total number of 23 crucial actor genes were associated to the presence of G. biloba extract. Analysis demonstrated Rhoc, Myc, Cdc20, Cdk1, Plk1, Bub1, Aurkb, Bob1b, Gsk3b, Icenp, Sgo2a, Rbl1, Aurka, Mapk7, and Ccnd1 were the associated genes with hepatocellular carcinoma. The remained crucial actor genes were involved in cancer and other diseases. Conclusion: Rhoc and Myc were introduced as the key genes in response to long term consumption of G. biloba extract. The finding demonstrated close relationship between long term treatment with G. biloba extract and risk of cancers especially hepatocellular carcinoma.