Advanced MRI techniques: biomarkers in neuropsychiatric lupus

Lupus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 510-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Sarbu ◽  
P Toledano ◽  
A Calvo ◽  
E Roura ◽  
M I Sarbu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Fractional Anisotropy ◽  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Disease Onset ◽  
Protective Effects ◽  
Antimalarial Treatment ◽  
Systemic Lupus ◽  
The Right

Objectives The objective of this study was to determine whether advanced MRI could provide biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis in neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE). Methods Our prospective study included 28 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with primary central NPSLE, 22 patients without NPSLE and 20 healthy controls. We used visual scales to evaluate atrophy and white matter hyperintensities, voxel-based morphometry and Freesurfer to measure brain volume, plus diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) to assess white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) damage. We compared the groups and correlated MRI abnormalities with clinical data. Results NPSLE patients had less GM and WM than controls ( p = 0.042) in the fronto-temporal regions and corpus callosum. They also had increased diffusivities in the temporal lobe WM ( p < 0.010) and reduced fractional anisotropy in the right frontal lobe WM ( p = 0.018). High clinical scores, longstanding disease, and low serum C3 were associated with atrophy, lower fractional anisotropy and higher diffusivity in the fronto-temporal lobes. Antimalarial treatment correlated negatively with atrophy in the frontal cortex and thalamus; it was also associated with lower diffusivity in the fronto-temporal WM clusters. Conclusions Atrophy and microstructural damage in fronto-temporal WM and GM in NPSLE correlate with severity, activity and the time from disease onset. Antimalarial treatment seems to give some brain-protective effects.

Disease characterization of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients in Quebec

Lupus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 1005-1011 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Ng ◽  
S Bernatsky ◽  
E Rahme
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Cox Proportional Hazards ◽  
Systemic Steroid ◽  
Protective Effects ◽  
Antimalarial Treatment ◽  
Systemic Lupus ◽  
Cutaneous Manifestations ◽  
Organ Manifestations

Objective Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by an array of organ manifestations that can appear during flares and disappear during remissions. The objectives of this study were: (i) to examine SLE manifestation groups longitudinally in an SLE cohort; and (ii) to assess the association between early antimalarial treatment and renal manifestations. Methods Seven SLE manifestation groups—cutaneous, hematologic, lung, musculoskeletal, neuropsychiatric, serositis, renal—were tracked using Kaplan-Meier survival curves in an incident SLE cohort from Quebec health administrative data ( n = 2010). A subgroup with provincial drug insurance coverage was followed over time to examine the association between early antimalarial treatment (within three months after SLE diagnosis) and renal manifestations using a Cox proportional hazards survival model. Results Cutaneous manifestations was the most common manifestation at SLE diagnosis (30.0%, 95% CI: 27.7–32.2%). About two-thirds (66.2%, 95% CI: 63.4–68.9%) of patients had evidence of at least one SLE manifestation at diagnosis, which increased to 87.2% (95% CI: 84.2–90.3%) by the end of follow-up. After adjusting for age, sex, early concomitant systemic steroid therapy, Charlson comorbidity index, primary care visits in the year prior and other SLE manifestations at baseline, no statistically significant association was established between antimalarial therapy and renal manifestations. Conclusion This study provides insight regarding organ manifestations within a population-based sample. Most patients identified with SLE had other diagnostic evidence that supports an underlying diagnosis of SLE. No protective effects for antimalarial agents against renal manifestations could be established in this population-based cohort.

White matter microstructure alterations in systemic lupus erythematosus: A preliminary coordinate-based meta-analysis of diffusion tensor imaging studies

Lupus ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 096120332110450
Author(s):  
Cong Zhou ◽  
Man Dong ◽  
Weiwei Duan ◽  
Hao Lin ◽  
Shuting Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Diffusion Tensor Imaging ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Systemic Lupus ◽  
Microstructural Alterations ◽  
Thalamic Projections

Background Systemic lupus erythematosus is often accompanied with neuropsychiatric symptoms. Neuroimaging evidence indicated that microstructural white matter (WM) abnormalities play role in the neuropathological mechanism. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies allows the assessment of the microstructural integrity of WM tracts, but existing findings were inconsistent. This present study aimed to conduct a coordinate‐based meta‐analysis (CBMA) to identify statistical consensus of DTI studies in SLE. Methods Relevant studies that reported the differences of fractional anisotropy (FA) between SLE patients and healthy controls (HC) were searched systematically. Only studies reported the results in Talairach or Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) coordinates were included. The anisotropic effect size version of signed differential mapping (AES-SDM) was applied to detect WM alterations in SLE. Results Totally, five studies with seven datasets which included 126 patients and 161 HC were identified. The pooled meta-analysis demonstrated that SLE patients exhibited significant FA reduction in the left striatum and bilateral inferior network, mainly comprised the corpus callosum (CC), bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), bilateral anterior thalamic projections, bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), left inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), and left insula. No region with higher FA was identified. Conclusions Disorders of the immune system might lead to subtle WM microstructural alterations in SLE, which might be related with cognitive deficits or emotional distress symptoms. This provides a better understanding of the pathological mechanism of microstructural brain abnormalities in SLE.

scholarly journals White-matter integrity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and memory deficits

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 587-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diogo G Corrêa ◽  
Nicolle Zimmermann ◽  
Rafael S Borges ◽  
Denis B Pereira ◽  
Thomas M Doring ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Memory Deficits ◽  
Memory Deficit ◽  
Cognitive Domain ◽  
White Matter Integrity ◽  
Systemic Lupus ◽  
The Mean

Purpose Cognitive dysfunction is common in neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Memory is a commonly affected cognitive domain. Clinically, however, it is difficult to detect memory deficits. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether normal controls and SLE patients with and without memory deficit differ in terms of white-matter integrity. Methods Twenty SLE patients with memory deficit were compared to 47 SLE patients without memory deficit and 22 sex-, age-, and education-matched control individuals. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was performed in a 1.5-Tesla scanner. For tract-based spatial statistics analysis, a white-matter skeleton was created. A permutation-based inference with 5000 permutations with a threshold of p < 0.05 was used to identify abnormalities in fractional anisotropy (FA). The mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD) and axial diffusivity (AD) were also projected onto the mean FA skeleton. Results Compared to controls, SLE patients with and without memory deficit had decreased FA in: bilateral anterior thalamic radiation, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus, uncinate fasciculus, corticospinal tract, genu, and body of the corpus callosum. SLE patients with and without memory deficit also presented increased MD and RD values compared to controls in these areas. Comparison between SLE patients with and without memory deficit did not present significant differences in DTI parameters. Conclusion DTI can detect extensive abnormalities in the normal-appearing white matter of SLE patients with and without memory deficit, compared to controls. However, there was no difference, in terms of white-matter integrity, between the groups of SLE patients.

Adult systemic lupus erythematosus in Egypt: The nation-wide spectrum of 3661 patients and world-wide standpoint

Lupus ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 096120332110142
Author(s):  
Tamer A Gheita ◽  
Rasha Abdel Noor ◽  
Esam Abualfadl ◽  
Osama S Abousehly ◽  
Iman I El-Gazzar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Age At Onset ◽  
Disease Onset ◽  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Systemic Lupus ◽  
Cross Sectional

Objective The aim of this study was to present the epidemiology, clinical manifestations and treatment pattern of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Egyptian patients over the country and compare the findings to large cohorts worldwide. Objectives were extended to focus on the age at onset and gender driven influence on the disease characteristics. Patients and method This population-based, multicenter, cross-sectional study included 3661 adult SLE patients from Egyptian rheumatology departments across the nation. Demographic, clinical, and therapeutic data were assessed for all patients. Results The study included 3661 patients; 3296 females and 365 males (9.03:1) and the median age was 30 years (17–79 years), disease duration 4 years (0–75 years) while the median age at disease onset was 25 years (4–75 years). The overall estimated prevalence of adult SLE in Egypt was 6.1/100,000 population (1.2/100,000 males and 11.3/100,000 females).There were 316 (8.6%) juvenile-onset (Jo-SLE) and 3345 adult-onset (Ao-SLE). Age at onset was highest in South and lowest in Cairo (p < 0.0001). Conclusion SLE in Egypt had a wide variety of clinical and immunological manifestations, with some similarities with that in other nations and differences within the same country. The clinical characteristics, autoantibodies and comorbidities are comparable between Ao-SLE and Jo-SLE. The frequency of various clinical and immunological manifestations varied between gender. Additional studies are needed to determine the underlying factors contributing to gender and age of onset differences.

Different cerebral functional segregation in Sjogren’s syndrome with or without systemic lupus erythematosus revealed by amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation

2021 ◽  
pp. 028418512110324
Author(s):  
Xiao-Dong Zhang ◽  
Jun Ke ◽  
Jing-Li Li ◽  
Yun-Yan Su ◽  
Jia-Min Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Sjogren’S Syndrome ◽  
Sjogren's Syndrome ◽  
Frequency Fluctuation ◽  
Parahippocampal Gyrus ◽  
Systemic Lupus ◽  
The Right ◽  
Left Insula

Background Sjögren’s syndrome (SjS) associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SjS-SLE) was considered a standalone but often-overlooked entity. Purpose To assess altered spontaneous brain activity in SjS-SLE and SjS using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF). Material and Methods Sixteen patients with SjS-SLE, 17 patients with SjS, and 17 matched controls underwent neuropsychological tests and subsequent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) examinations. The ALFF value was calculated based on blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) fMRI. Statistical parametric mapping was utilized to analyze between-group differences and multiple comparison was corrected with Analysis of Functional NeuroImages 3dClustSim. Then, the ALFFs of brain regions with significant differences among the three groups were correlated to corresponding clinical and neuropsychological variables by Pearson correlation. Results ALFF differences in the bilateral precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), right parahippocampal gyrus/caudate/insula, and left insula were found among the three groups. Both SjS-SLE and SjS displayed decreased ALFF in the right parahippocampal gyrus, right insula, and left insula than HC. Moreover, SjS-SLE showed wider decreased ALFF in the bilateral precuneus and right caudate, while the SjS group exhibited increased ALFF in the bilateral PCC. Additionally, patients with SjS-SLE exhibited lower ALFF values in the bilateral PCC and precuneus than SjS. Moreover, ALFF values in the right parahippocampal gyrus and PCC were negatively correlated to fatigue score and disease duration, respectively, in SjS-SLE. Conclusion SjS-SLE and SjS exhibited common and different alteration of cerebral functional segregation revealed by AlFF analysis. This result appeared to indicate that SjS-SLE might be different from SjS with a neuroimaging standpoint.

scholarly journals A patient with systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus nephritis: A 12-year follow-up

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (8) ◽  
pp. 705-708
Author(s):  
Natasa Jovanovic ◽  
Jasmina Markovic-Lipkovski ◽  
Stevan Pavlovic ◽  
Biljana Stojimirovic
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Nephrotic Syndrome ◽  
Mycophenolate Mofetil ◽  
Lupus Nephritis ◽  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Kidney Biopsy ◽  
Immunosuppressive Drugs ◽  
Systemic Lupus ◽  
Younger Women ◽  
The Right

Introduction. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic immunological disease causing a significant morbidity and mortality in younger women and involving several organs and systems, most often the kidneys, being consequently the incidence of lupus nephritis (LN) about 60%. Case report. We reported a 57 year-old patient with the diagnosed SLE in 1995. Pathohistological analysis of kidney biopsy revealed LN type V. The patient was treated with corticosteroid pulses and azathioprine during one year. A remission was achieved and maintained with prednisone, 15 mg daily. Nephrotic relapse was diagnosed in 2006 and the second kidney biopsy revealed recent kidney infarction due to extensive vasculitis. Soon, a cerebrovascul insult developed and CT-scan revealed endocranial infarctus. The patient was treated with corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide pulses (totally VI monthly pulses), and also with low-molecular heparine, anticoagulants and salicylates because of the right leg phlebothrombosis. After the pulses, the patient was adviced to take prednisone 20 mg daily and azothioprine 100 mg daily, and 6 months later mycophenolate mofetil because of persistent active serological immunological findings (ANA 1 : 320) and nephrotic syndrome. Mycophenolate mofetil was efficient in inducing and maintaining remission of nephrotic syndrome. Conclusion. The aim of LN treatment is to achieve and maintain remission, improve patients? outcome, reduce the toxicity of immunosuppressive drugs and the incidence of relapses. Mycophenolate mofetil was shown to be efficient in inducing and maintaining remission of nephrotic syndrome in the frame of LN.

Non-central serous chorioretinopathy in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus and hydroxychloroquine retinopathy

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. e237243
Author(s):  
Diogo Hipolito-Fernandes ◽  
Maria Elisa Luís ◽  
Rita Flores ◽  
Rita Anjos
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Central Serous Chorioretinopathy ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Subretinal Fluid ◽  
Ophthalmological Examination ◽  
Systemic Lupus ◽  
Diagnostic Challenge ◽  
Hydroxychloroquine Retinopathy ◽  
The Right

Subretinal fluid accumulation in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may represent a diagnostic challenge. We present a case of a 43-year-old man with baseline diagnosis of SLE and hydroxychloroquine-associated maculopathy who reported progressive vision loss on the right eye, associated with corticosteroids use for an arthritic crisis. Ophthalmological examination did not reveal any acute finding. On optical coherence tomography, subretinal fluid in the perifoveal area was visible on the right eye, with corresponding enlargement of the visual field defect. An increased choroidal thickness was also visible. Fluorescein angiography revealed, on the right eye, two pinpoint areas of leakage and indocyanine green angiography signs of choroidal vascular hyperpermeability. Considering a diagnosis of a non-central central serous chorioretinopathy, corticosteroids use was interrupted, with resolution of the subretinal fluid. This case illustrates the relevance of a multimodal imaging approach to guide the diagnosis of patient with an SLE with subretinal fluid.

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