Title

Cardiovascular and neurovascular complications in systemic lupus Erythematosus: A cross-sectional study of subclinical atherosclerosis and cognitive dysfunction

Authors

Abberamiy Pushparaj¹, Saradha Muthu Kumar Padmasini², Akhila Pakalapati³ & Sorabh Sharma^4,*

Affiliation

¹Department of Gastro and Rheumatology, Ramchandra Hospital, Sri Lanka, South Asia; ²Department of Critical Care, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India; ³Department of Internal Medicine, King's College London, Minnesota, USA; ⁴Department of Internal Medicine, University of Arizona, Arizona, USA; *Corresponding author

Email

Abberamiy Pushparaj - E-mail: abiramipushparaj5@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9003272358
Saradha Muthu Kumar Padmasini - E-mail: saradha2001@gmail.com; Phone: +91 7397610805
Akhila Pakalapati - E-mail: akhila.pakalapati95@outlook.com; Phone: +1612 369-9666
Sorabh Sharma - E-mail: sorabh.gmch@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9084050291

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received October 1, 2025; Revised November 15, 2025; Accepted November 15, 2025, Published November 15, 2025

Abstract

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune condition that has increase appreciated cardiovascular and neurovascular complications. This report presents a cross-sectional study of 100 SLE patients (18–55 years) who were evaluated for the prevalence and relationship of subclinical atherosclerosis and cognitive dysfunction. Subclinical atherosclerosis was measured by carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and cognition was measured by scoring the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The study found that 36% of participants had subclinical atherosclerosis, while 42% had cognitive impairment. Both subclinical atherosclerosis and cognitive dysfunction were associated with longer disease duration, corticosteroid exposure, higher SLEDAI scores and the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. Data shows the high prevalence of concomitant vascular and cognitive dysfunction in SLE patients and the need for early screening for both outcomes in a non-invasive manner.

Keywords

Systemic lupus erythematosus, subclinical atherosclerosis, cognitive dysfunction, carotid intima-media thickness, MoCA, neurovascular complications

Citation

Pushparaj et al. Bioinformation 21(11): 4241-4245 (2025)

Edited by

A Prashanth

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.