Abnormal amplitude of low frequency fluctuation and functional connectivity in non-neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus: a resting-state fMRI study.

Purpose: To explore the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and functional connectivity (FC) disorders in non-neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (non-NPSLE) patients by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and to study whether there are some clinical biomarkers that can be used to monitor the brain dysfunction.

Methods: Based on the rs-fMRI data of 36 non-NPSLE patients and 30 normal controls, we first obtained the regions with abnormal ALFF signals in non-NPSLE patients. Then, by taking these areas as seed regions of interest (ROIs), we calculated the FC between ROIs and the whole brain to assess the network-level alterations.