Lupus & antiphospholipid syndrome
Evaluation of MRI-based brain oxygen extraction fraction mapping in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors' conclusion
Cerebral OEF mapping in patients with SLE is readily available using the MRI-based QQ method, which has the potential to serve as an adjunctive tool for diagnosing NPSLE and monitoring cognitive impairment in SLE.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (neuropsychiatric SLE (NPSLE) and non-NPSLE) and healthy controls43 SLE patients
- Participants
- 18 / 25 / 26
- Exposure
- NPSLE vs non-NPSLE SLE vs healthy controls
- NPSLEn = 18
- non-NPSLEn = 25
- Healthy controls (HC)n = 26reference
- Outcome
- Cerebral OEF (MRI-based QQ method) and its relationship with cognition (MoCA)
Methodological detailswhole-brain voxel-wise analysis, regional analysis
- Whole-brain voxel-wise analysis
- Regional analysis
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Cerebral OEF
- Whole-brain voxel-wise analysis: significant oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) changes among HC, non-NPSLE and NPSLE, primarily in the limbic system incl. orbitofrontal cortex and bilateral insular lobes
- Reduced OEF in subregions of amygdala, hippocampus and caudate nucleus in non-NPSLE vs HC; decreasing trends in all selected subcortical grey matter regions
- Right hippocampus: OEF increased in NPSLE vs non-NPSLE
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Correlation of OEF with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores (all subjects)
- OEF in bilateral medial amygdalae, right lateral amygdala, left rostral hippocampus and right dorsal caudate nucleus positively correlated with MoCA scores
Original publication
Evaluation of MRI-based brain oxygen extraction fraction mapping in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus Sci Med. Published 16 June 2025. doi:10.
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