Purpose: In this study, we seek to investigate dynamic changes of brain activity in non-neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (non-NPSLE) patients with inactive disease.
Patients and Methods: Thirty-one non-NPSLE patients with inactive disease and 20 matched healthy controls underwent the blood oxygenation level-dependent fMRI examination. Dynamic regional homogeneity (ReHo) and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) were used to analyze the brain activity in typical band (0.01– 0.08 Hz), slow-4 (0.027– 0.073 Hz) and slow-5 (0.01– 0.027 Hz). Pearson’s correlation analysis was performed to correlate dynamic regional homogeneity (dReHo) and dynamic fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (dfALFF) values for clusters of voxels where significant group differences were found with clinical variables in non-NPSLE patients with inactive disease.
Results: In typical band, non-NPSLE patients showed increased dReHo in left middle occipital gyrus (MOG) compared to healthy controls. Meanwhile, patients showed decreased dfALFF in right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and bilateral middle frontal gyrus (MFG) in typical band. In slow-4, increased dReHo in left MOG was found in non-NPSLE patients. In slow-5, non-NPSLE patients showed increased dReHo in left MOG, left calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex, right precentral gyrus (PreCG) and left postcentral gyrus (PoCG). Meanwhile, non-NPSLE patients showed decreased dfALFF in left SFG, right MFG, and right PreCG in slow-5. Moreover, the glucocorticoid dose showed significantly negative correlations with dReHo values in right PreCG in slow-5, left PoCG in slow-5, and left MOG in typical band.
Conclusion: dReHo and dfALFF abnormalities in different frequency bands may be the key characteristics in the pathogenesis mechanism of non-NPSLE.
Keywords: systemic lupus erythematosus, non-neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus, dynamic fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, dynamic regional homogeneity, frequency bands, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging