Study of endothelial dysfunction and its correlation with disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus patients without conventional cardiovascular risk factors

BackgroundEndothelial dysfunction is an important cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), causing atherosclerosis and its related complications, even in the absence of conventional cardiovascular risk factors.ObjectiveThe present study was aimed at finding the prevalence of endothelial dysfunction in SLE and its relation with disease activity.MethodsFifty SLE patients without traditional cardiovascular risk factors, and equal number of age and sex matched controls were chosen. Endothelial function was assessed by flow mediated vasodilatation (FMV) on brachial artery using B-mode ultrasonography.ResultsMean age of SLE patients was 26.06 ± 6.231 years. Thirty-seven (74%) of the patients were having severe disease activity, defined as systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI) >8. We found significantly lower levels of basal brachial artery diameter in SLE patients (0.3499±0.075 cm) compared to controls (0.3826 ± 0.0002cm), as also impaired FMV (2.57 ± 2.32% and 8.7082 ± 1.5776%, respectively). Flow mediated vasodilatation significantly correlated with SLEDAI (r=-0.52) and complement (C3) levels (r=0.33).ConclusionEndothelial dysfunction in SLE correlates with disease activity.