Structural and functional brain connectomes in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Immunology
• Radiology

Background:

• Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an immune-mediated disease impacting multiple organs, including the nervous system.
• Neuropsychiatric (NP) manifestations are common in SLE, but their underlying neurobiological mechanisms are not fully understood.
• Brain connectivity alterations may underlie NP involvement in SLE.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the topographical organization of structural and functional brain connectivity in SLE patients.
• To correlate brain connectivity with neuropsychiatric involvement and autoantibody profiles in SLE.
• To compare brain network properties between SLE patients and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) were used.
• Graph theoretical analysis was applied to DTI and rs-fMRI data from 32 SLE patients and 32 controls.
• Structural and functional connectivity matrices were computed, and global/nodal network metrics were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Patients with SLE exhibited abnormal global structural network properties, unlike functional properties.
• Structural network abnormalities were more pronounced in SLE patients with anti-double-stranded DNA (ADNA) autoantibodies.
• Reduced strength and clustering were observed in structural hubs of SLE patients, particularly those with ADNA autoantibodies.
• Correlations were found between clinical, MRI, and network measures.

Conclusions:

• SLE is associated with diffuse disruption of global and nodal structural brain connectivity, especially in the presence of ADNA autoantibodies.
• Functional brain network integrity might play a compensatory role in preserving clinical functions in SLE patients.
• Structural connectivity alterations are a key feature of SLE, irrespective of NP involvement or anti-phospholipid antibody status.