Abstract:

Wu Xixi, Feng Aiping, Li Pengcheng, Ren Jun, Yang Yanqing Laser Room, Department of Plastic Surgery, Wuhan Third Hospital, Wuhan 430060, China （Wu XX）; Department of Plastic Surgery, Wuhan Third Hospital, Wuhan 430060, China （Ren J, Yang YQ）; Department of Dermatology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China（Feng AP）; College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China （Li PC） Corresponding author: Yang Yanqing, Email: xunxicici@163.com 【Abstract】 Objective To noninvasively assess peripheral blood flow changes in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus （SLE） before and after treatments by using laser speckle contrast analysis （LSCA）, to compare eripheral blood flow between SLE patients and healthy controls, and to evaluate effects of air temperature, age and gender on peripheral blood flow changes. Methods Clinical data on air temperature at the first visit （groups of ≥ 20 ℃ and < 20 ℃）, age （groups of < 20, 20 - < 40 and ≥ 40 years）, gender, blood and urine routine test results, complement levels and immunologic test findings were collected from 47 patients with SLE. The patients′ condition was evaluated by systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index （SLEDAI）, and Spearman′s correlation analysis was carried out to assess its correlation with peripheral blood flow changes （expressed as changes in speckle flow index ［△SFI］ values） measured by LSCA. Peripheral blood flow was compared between the 47 patients and 30 healthy human controls. Results Compared with healthy controls, SLE patients showed significantly lower subungual SFI values （7.017 ± 0.356 vs. 9.765 ± 0.337, t = 5.182, P < 0.05）, but significantly higher periungual SFI values （7.821 ± 0.662 vs. 3.129 ± 0.128, t = 5.414, P < 0.05）. SLEDAI scores of patients were positively correlated with both subungual and periungual △SFI values （rs = 0.601, 0.260, respectively, both P < 0.05）. A total of 28 patients completed 4?week conventional treatment and follow up, and periungual SFI values significantly decreased in these patients at the end of treatment （5.204 ± 0.476 vs. 7.967 ± 0.913, t = 4.644, P < 0.05）, while subungual SFI values experienced no evident changes （7.578 ± 0.554 vs. 7.039 ± 0.635, t = 2.064, P > 0.05） compared with those at the baseline. Air temperature affected subungual blood flow significantly （t = 2.415, P < 0.05）, but had no significant effects on periungual blood flow （t = 0.758, P > 0.05）. In addition, neither gender nor age had obvious effects on subungual or periungual blood flow. Conclusions Compared with healthy controls, peripheral blood flow significantly changed in patients with SLE, and was improved to a certain extent after treatment. Air temperature markedly affects subungual blood flow. LSCA may be a supplementary approach to more convenient and quantitative assessment of the severity of SLE.