ArticleArthritis research & therapy2020
Cerebral microvascular and microstructural integrity is regionally altered in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
Article in Arthritis research & therapy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of systemic lupus erythematosus on the brain: a systematic review of structural MRI findings and their relationships with cognitive dysfunction.Lupus science & medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Insulin Resistance and Inflammation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Brain perfusion and blood-brain barrier permeability in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: Associations with disease activity, cognitive dysfunction, fatigue and pain.Neuroimage. Reports · 2025Article
- Cognitive dysfunction in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus: current knowledge and future directions.Child neuropsychology : a journal on normal and abnormal development in childhood and adolescence · 2024Review
- Cerebral Microstructural and Microvascular Changes in Non-Neuropsychiatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Study Using Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging and 3D Pseudo-Continuous Arterial Spin Labeling.Journal of inflammation research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTo measure regional brain microvascular and microstructural changes in childhood-onset SLE (cSLE) using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) at multiple b values and investigate relationships of those measures with neurocognitive function and disease activity.
methodsIn this cross-sectional, case-control study, vascular volume fraction, effective diffusion, parenchymal diffusion, and blood flow parameters were regionally compared in cSLE patients and matched healthy controls. These markers of microvascular and microstructural integrity were derived by diffusion-weighted brain MRI and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) modeling. Formal neurocognitive testing was completed focused on the domains of attention, visuoconstructional ability, working memory, and psychomotor speed. Test scores and measures of disease severity were regressed against regional microvascular integrity parameters among cSLE patients.
resultsFormal cognitive testing confirmed normal cognitive ability among all cSLE patients included in the analysis (n = 11). Nevertheless, reduction in blood volume fraction coincided with increased effective diffusion and flow parameters in cSLE patients vs. controls in posterior brain regions including the cuneus and precuneus. Regional microvascular measures correlated (|r| = 0.54-0.66) with neuropsychiatric scores and disease activity among cSLE patients.
conclusionsThere is imaging evidence, using IVIM, of degraded microvascular integrity in cSLE patients with normal cognitive ability. The observed regional changes correspond with posterior vascular border zones. These outcomes appear consistent with regional gray matter volume loss previously observed in cSLE patients with overt neurocognitive deficits, supporting the notion that adverse vascular changes precede loss of cognitive ability in cSLE. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm the findings of this initial study.
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