Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics of SLE patients and controls.
| SLE patients atdiagnosis (S1) (N = 14) | SLE patients after diseasecontrol (S2) (N = 14) | Healthy controls(N = 14) | p Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) | ||||
| Demographics | ||||
| Age, years | 39.38 (13.9) | 34.07 (14.4) | NS | |
| Gender, female (%) | 12 (85.70) | 12 (85.70) | NS | |
| Presenting clinical features of SLE† | ||||
| Rash | 10 (71.4) | |||
| Arthritis | 10 (71.4) | |||
| Raynaud’s phenomenon | 1 (7.14) | |||
| Proliferative glomerulonephritis | 6 (42.9) | |||
| Serositis Clinical parameters | 1 (71.4) | |||
| SLEDAI | 9.93 (5.7) | 2.64 (1.4) | — | <0.001 |
| C3, mg/dL | 70.46 (25.0) | 89.08 (17.8) | — | 0.009 |
| C4, mg/dL | 15.42 (10.9) | 20.67 (8.8) | — | 0.020 |
| Anti-dsDNA, IU | 132.50 (111.3) | 83.42 (94.0) | — | 0.064 |
| Prednisolone, mg/day | 15.32 (18.4) | 3.82 (3.5) | — | 0.023 |
| Cumulative prednisolone dose, gm | 1.76 (2.1) | — | — | |
| Medications, number (%) | ||||
| Prednisolone | 14 (100) | 11 (78.6) | — | 0.222 |
| Hydroxychloroquine | 8 (57.1) | 10 (71.4) | — | 0.695 |
| Azathioprine | 3 (21.4) | 8 (57.1) | — | 0.120 |
| Cyclophosphamide | 4 (28.6) | 0 (0) | — | 0.098 |
| Mycophenolate mofetil | 0 (0) | 1 (7.1) | — | 1.000 |
| Methotrexate | 1 (7.1) | 1 (7.1) | — | 1.000 |
| Leflunomide | 0 (0) | 1 (7.1) | — | 1.000 |
| Serum CVS risk factors† | ||||
| HDL-c, mmol/L | 1.50 (0.4) | — | — | |
| LDL-c, mmol/L | 2.94 (0.6) | — | — | |
| TG, mmol/L | 1.21 (0.6) | — | — | |
| HbA1c, % | 5.4 (0.5) | — | — | |
| Cardiac Index | 3.46 (0.9) | — | — | |
| Time between SLE diagnosis andfirst scan, days (range) | 36.86 ± 35.5 (8–143) | |||
| Interval between S1 and S2,days (range) | 504.92 ± 267.0 (196–1088) | |||
| WASI Scores | ||||
| Verbal | 96.23 (15.59) | 99.00(14.43) | 100.43 (11.01) | 0.424 |
| Performance | 101.50 (19.84) | 105.21 (18.98) | 104.86 (11.60) | 0.589 |
| Full IQ | 99.31 (17.10) | 104.86 (11.60) | 103.14 (11.22) | 0.494 |
†A single patient could present with more than one clinical manifestations of SLE. Abbreviations: S1 = time of first MRI scan at diagnosis, S2 = time of the second MRI scan after disease control, SD = standard deviation, NS = not significant, SLEDAI = Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index, IU = International Unit, CVS = cardiovascular, HDL-c = high-density lipoprotein, LDL = low-density lipoprotein, TG = triglyceride, HbA1c = glycated haemoglobin, WASI = Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence.