The altered functional modular organization in systemic lupus erythematosus: an independent component analysis study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Immunology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with potential neurological manifestations.
• Cognitive dysfunction is a recognized complication in SLE patients.
• Understanding brain functional connectivity (FC) alterations in SLE is crucial for diagnosing and managing neurological complications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate abnormalities in intra- and intermodular functional connectivity (FC) in patients with SLE.
• To explore the relationship between altered FC and clinical data, specifically cognitive function.

Main Methods:

• Independent component analysis (ICA) was used to identify 12 modular brain networks.
• Parametric tests compared FC between 41 SLE patients and 40 healthy controls.
• Partial correlation analysis examined links between FC and cognitive assessments (Mini-Mental State Examination).

Main Results:

• SLE patients displayed decreased intramodular FC in networks including the anterior default mode network (aDMN) and sensorimotor network (SMN).
• Increased intramodular FC was observed in the medial visual network (mVN) and left frontoparietal network.
• Altered intermodular FC was noted, with decreased connectivity between SMN and lateral visual network (lVN), and increased connectivity between SMN and salience network (SAN).
• Specific FC alterations, particularly between aDMN-VAN and SMN-SAN, correlated with the severity of cognitive impairment.

Conclusions:

• Patients with SLE exhibit significant disruptions in brain functional connectivity.
• Aberrant FC patterns, especially hyperconnectivity between specific networks, may reflect compensatory mechanisms for cognitive deficits in SLE.
• FC measures between the SMN-SAN and aDMN-VAN show promise as neuroimaging biomarkers for tracking cognitive progression in SLE.