Code repository for the paper "Structural Brain MRI Alterations in Systemic Lupus Erythematous patients with and without neuropsychiatric events"
Manuscript accepted in the American Journal of Neuroradiology (AJNR) and currently in press.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease known for its diverse clinical manifestations, including neuropsychiatric involvement (NPSLE), which impacts patient quality of life.
Explore the relationships between brain MRI morphometric findings, neuropsychiatric events, and laboratory values in SLE patients, shedding light on potential volumetric biomarkers and diagnostic indicators for NPSLE.
Twenty-seven SLE patients (14 NPSLE, 13 SLE), 24 females and 3 males, (average age of 43 years, ranging from 21 to 62), were included in this cross-sectional study, alongside 10 NP patients as controls. MRI morphometric analysis, with VolBrain online platform, to quantitatively assess brain structural features and their differences between NPSLE and SLE patients, was performed. Correlations and differences between MRI morphometric findings and laboratory values, including disease activity scores, as SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) and SLICC-Damage Index (SDI), were explored. An ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis further explored SLEDAI and SDI relationship with MRI features.
For NPSLE and non-NPSLE patients, the brain regions with the largest difference in volumetric measurements, were the Insular Central Operculum volume (p-value = 0.003), and the Occipital Cortex thickness (p = 0.003), which were lower in NPSLE. The partial correlation analysis showed that the most correlated morphometric features with NPSLE were subcallosal area thickness asymmetry (p < 0.001) and temporal pole thickness asymmetry (p = 0.011). The OLS Regression Analysis yielded a R2 of 0.725 for the SLEDAI score, with Calcarine Cortex volume as a significant predictor, and a R2 of 0.715 for the SDI score, with Medial Postcentral Gyrus volume as a significant predictor.
The MRI volumetric analysis, along with the correlation study and the OLS regression analysis, revealed significant differences in brain regions and their characteristics between NPSLE and SLE patients, as well as between patients with different SLEDAI and SDI scores.