Conversely, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis28,29 demonstrated that the upregulated genes were associated with the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway, tuberculosis, phagosomes, focal adhesions, and ECM-receptor interactions, while the downregulated genes were associated with mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways, apoptosis, the p53 signaling pathway, and the NF-kappa B signaling pathway (Fig. 3D). Here, WNK2 is linked to tuberculosis.