Characterizing Dysregulated Networks in Individual Patients with Ischemic Stroke Based on Monte Carlo Cross-Validation.

The purpose of this study was to introduce a new method to elucidating the molecular mechanisms in ischemic stroke. Genes from microarray data were performed enrichment to biological pathways. Dysregulated pathways and dysregulated pathway pairs were identified and constructed into networks. After Random Forest classification was performed, area under the curve (AUC) value of main network was calculated. After 50 bootstraps of Monte Carlo Cross-Validation, six pairs of pathways were found for >40 times. The best main network with AUC value = 0.735 was identified, including 14 pairs of pathways. Compared with the traditional method (gene set enrichment analysis), although a small part of pathways were shared, most of the pathways were closely related with ischemic stroke. The best network may give new insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms in ischemic stroke. It may play pivotal roles in the progression of ischemic stroke and particular attention should be focused on them for further research.