The November 2023 issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal had an article using AI and text mining and deep learning to see if there were genetic risks for capsular contracture. “Identification of Drug Compounds for Capsular Contracture Based of Text Mining and Deep Learning.”
The authors talk about how capsular contracture is a common and unpredictable complication after breast augmentation with implants, and the pathogenesis of it is unclear. They were trying to investigate new drug therapies by identifying genes related to capsular contracture.
Method:
- Genes related to capsular contracture were identified by text mining and GeneCodis
- Candidate key genes were selected by protein to protein interaction analysis using Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins and Cytoscape
- Drugs targeting the candidate genes were screened using Pharmaprojects
- Based on the drug-target interaction analysis by Deep Purpose, candidate drugs were identified with the highest predicted biding affinity.
- They found 55 genes related to capsular contracture
- 100 drugs were found to target those genes, and 7 of those had the highest binding were selected
- These targeted tumor necrosis factor, alpha antagonist, estrogen receptor agonist, insulin like growth fact 1 receptor, tyrosine kinase inhibitor, matrix metallopeptidase 1 inhibitor.
They conclude that this can be a future treatment for capsular contracture prevention.
My thoughts?
I believe in biofilm and chronic inflammation as a root cause of capsular contracture and breast implant illness. We know your incision placement, in front of or behind the muscle, keller funnels, antibiotics, etc make a difference.
There may also be a genetic predisposition, and in this time of data analytics and AI, I do think we are going to keep discovering layers of predispositions and new treatment techniques. I was intrigued by the identification of genes they thought predisposed people to capsular contracture. I’d like to learn more about that.
Can’t wait to see where this goes. Will keep you posted.