CS-24 Association of lipoprotein subfractions and glycoprotein acetylation with coronary plaque burden in systemic lupus erythematosus

Objective.A major cause of morbidity and mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is accelerated coronary atherosclerosis. New technology (computed tomographic angiography) can measure noncalcified coronary plaque (NCP), which is more prone to rupture. We report on a study of semiquantified NCP in SLE.Methods.Patients with SLE (n = 147) with no history of cardiovascular disease underwent 64-slice coronary multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). The MDCT scans were evaluated quantitatively by a radiologist, using dedicated software.Results.The group of 147 patients with SLE was 86% female, 70% white, 29% African American, and 3% other ethnicity. The mean age was 51 years. In our univariate analysis, the major traditional cardiovascular risk factors associated with noncalcified plaque were age (p = 0.007), obesity (p = 0.03; measured as body mass index), homocysteine (p = 0.05), and hypertension (p = 0.04). Anticardiolipin (p = 0.026; but not lupus anticoagulant) and anti-dsDNA (p = 0.03) were associated with higher noncalcified plaque. Prednisone and hydroxychloroquine therapy had no effect, but methotrexate (MTX) use was associated with higher noncalcified plaque (p = 0.0001). In the best multivariate model, age, current MTX use, and history of anti-dsDNA remained significant.Conclusion.Our results suggest that serologic SLE (anti-dsDNA) and traditional cardiovascular risk factors contribute to semiquantified noncalcified plaque in SLE. The association with MTX is not understood, but should be replicated in larger studies and in multiple centers.

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Noncalcified Coronary Plaque in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

The Journal of Rheumatology ◽

10.3899/jrheum.090824 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 37 (3) ◽

pp. 579-584 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

ADNAN N. KIANI ◽

JENS VOGEL-CLAUSSEN ◽

LAURENCE S. MAGDER ◽

MICHELLE PETRI

Keyword(s):

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Hormone Replacement ◽

Univariate Analysis ◽

Coronary Plaque ◽

Immunosuppressive Drugs ◽

Coronary Calcium ◽

Total Serum ◽

Total Serum Cholesterol ◽

Systemic Lupus

Objective.To study noncalcified coronary plaque (NCP) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods.Sixty-four-slice coronary multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) was performed in 39 consecutive patients with SLE. MDCT scans were evaluated semiquantitatively by a radiologist using dedicated software. The presence or absence of NCP in each coronary artery was assessed. Patients with mixed plaque (calcified and noncalcified portions) were included in the NCP group.Results.The patient group was 90% women, 64% Caucasian, 31% African American, 5% other; mean age 50.5 ± 9.6 years. Fifty-four percent (21/39) had NCP. Seventy-six percent (16/21) of those with NCP also had coronary calcium (range 0.7 to 1264.1 Agatston units). In univariate analysis, NCP was associated with age (p = 0.01), current nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) use (p = 0.04), hormone replacement therapy (p = 0.02), current use of immunosuppressive drugs (p = 0.02), current low serum C3 level (p = 0.07), current physician’s global assessment of activity (PGA; p = 0.05), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.04). NCP was not associated with other risk factors for atherosclerosis, including total serum cholesterol, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, and lipoprotein(a).Conclusion.Unlike coronary calcium, which is not associated with SLE activity measures or with active serologies, NCP is more common in patients with SLE with current, 3-, and 6-month activity by PGA. NCP was also associated with the need for current NSAID or immunosuppressive therapy. NCP is an important part of the total atherosclerotic burden in SLE.

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Plasma Sphingolipid Profile Associated With Subclinical Atherosclerosis and Clinical Disease Markers of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Potential Predictive Value

Frontiers in Immunology ◽

10.3389/fimmu.2021.694318 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Samar M. Hammad ◽

Olivia C. Harden ◽

Dulaney A. Wilson ◽

Waleed O. Twal ◽

Paul J. Nietert ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽

African American ◽

Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Predictive Value ◽

Subclinical Atherosclerosis ◽

Plaque Burden ◽

Systemic Lupus ◽

Cvd Risk ◽

Plaque Area ◽

Increased Risk

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects females more than males, with African Americans developing more severe manifestation of the disease. SLE patients are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and SLE women 35-44 years old have 50 fold the incidence rate of CVD. Because SLE patients do not follow the typical age and gender pattern for CVD, but instead an accelerated disease course, the traditional biomarkers of elevated LDL and total cholesterol levels do not accurately assess their CVD risk. Recently, we have reported that African American SLE patients had higher ceramide, hexosylceramide, sphingosine and dihydrosphingosine 1-phosphate levels compared to their healthy controls, and those with atherosclerosis had higher sphingomyelin and sphingoid bases levels than those without (PLoS One. 2019; e0224496). In the current study, we sought to identify sphingolipid species that correlate with and pose the potential to predict atherosclerosis severity in African American SLE patients. Plasma samples from a group of African American predominantly female SLE patients with well-defined carotid atherosclerotic plaque burden were analyzed for sphingolipidomics using targeted mass spectroscopy. The data demonstrated that at baseline, plaque area and C3 values correlated inversely with most lactoceramide species. After one-year follow-up visit, values of the change of plaque area correlated positively with the lactoceramide species. There was no correlation between LDL-C concentrations and lactoceramide species. Taken together, lactocylcermide levels may have a ‘predictive’ value and sphingolipidomics have an added benefit to currently available tools in early diagnosis and prognosis of African American SLE patients with CVD.

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Semiquantified Noncalcified Coronary Plaque in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

The Journal of Rheumatology ◽

10.3899/jrheum.120197.c1 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 39 (12) ◽

pp. 2366-2366

Keyword(s):

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Coronary Plaque ◽

Systemic Lupus

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Organized Intraglomerular Deposits in NZB Mouse Disease

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100066772 ◽

1971 ◽

Vol 29 ◽

pp. 544-545

Author(s):

Francis R. Comerford ◽

Alan S. Cohen

Keyword(s):

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Antinuclear Antibodies ◽

Human Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Systemic Lupus ◽

Glomerular Lesion ◽

Ultrastructural Studies ◽

Dense Deposits ◽

Experimental Nephritis ◽

Glomerular Lesions

Mice of the inbred NZB strain develop a spontaneous disease characterized by autoimmune hemolytic anemia, positive lupus erythematosus cell tests and antinuclear antibodies and nephritis. This disease is analogous to human systemic lupus erythematosus. In ultrastructural studies of the glomerular lesion in NZB mice, intraglomerular dense deposits in mesangial, subepithelial and subendothelial locations were described. In common with the findings in many examples of human and experimental nephritis, including many cases of human lupus nephritis, these deposits were amorphous or slightly granular in appearance with no definable substructure.We have recently observed structured deposits in the glomeruli of NZB mice. They were uncommon and were found in older animals with severe glomerular lesions by morphologic criteria. They were seen most commonly as extracellular elements in subendothelial and mesangial regions. The deposits ranged up to 3 microns in greatest dimension and were often adjacent to deposits of lipid-like round particles of 30 to 250 millimicrons in diameter and with amorphous dense deposits.

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