Furthermore, IPA analysis of upstream regulators of these genes included APP, APOE and retinoic acid (Tretionin), which play major roles in Alzheimer’s disease [65–72] (Table 2; Additional file 7: Table S4) and revealed five kinase inhibitors, PD98059, SB203580, U0126, SP600125 and LY294002 (Table 2), that are part of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinase/extracellular regulated kinase/p38-mitogen activated kinase/TGFβ-1 (MEK/JNK/ERK1/2/p38/TGFβ) pathways, reduce inflammation and toxicity, and have been associated with Alzheimer’s disease [85, 94–98]. The gene discussed is APOE; the disease is early-onset autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease.