KEGG analysis revealed distinct regulated pathways upon HMZ exposure, which include malaria, (p = 1.65 × 10 − 7, FDR = 2.59 × 10 − 6), MAPK signalling pathway (p = 1.21 × 10 − 9, FDR = 2.84 × 10 − 8), pathways of neurodegeneration (p = 0.0325, FDR = 0.0588) and Alzheimer disease (p = 0.0446, FDR = 0.0716) as upregulated pathways, and p53 signalling pathway (p = 0.0069, FDR = 0.0143) and apoptosis (p = 0.0358, FDR = 0.0576) as downregulated pathways (Fig. 2c, (Supplementary File 1). The gene discussed is TP53; the disease is Alzheimer disease.