Neuropsychological profiles comparison between Multiple Sclerosis patients and Multiple Sclerosis patients with overlapping features of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Konstantina Stavrogianni; Dimitrios K Kitsos; Vasileios Giannopapas; Athanasios K Chasiotis; Niki Christouli; Panagiotis G Paraskevas; Christina Zompola; Georgios Tsivgoulis; George P Paraskevas; Sotirios Giannopoulos

doi:10.1016/j.jneuroim.2023.578270

Neuropsychological profiles comparison between Multiple Sclerosis patients and Multiple Sclerosis patients with overlapping features of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

J Neuroimmunol. 2024 Feb 15:387:578270. doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2023.578270. Epub 2023 Dec 21.

Affiliations

¹ Second Department of Neurology, Attikon University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
² Second Department of Neurology, Attikon University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
³ Second Department of Neurology, Attikon University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Department of Physical Therapy, University of West Attica, Attica, Greece; Laboratory of Neuromuscular and Cardiovascular Study of Motion-LANECASM, University of West Attica, Attica, Greece.
⁴ Second Department of Neurology, Attikon University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: sgiannop@uoi.gr.

PMID: 38176314
DOI: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2023.578270

Abstract

Aim: Multiple sclerosis (MS) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) are autoimmune disorders that may lead to cognitive impairment. This study aimed to compare the neuropsychological profiles of patients with MS, and MS and coexisting SLE features.

Methods: We included a total of 90 participants, divided into 3 groups: 30 patients with clinically definite relapsing remitting MS, 30 with coexisting MS and incomplete SLE (overlap group) and 30 healthy controls (HC). All participants underwent neuropsychological assessment with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), and Selective Reminding Test (SRT).

Results: Both groups scored lower on the MoCA compared to the HC (p < .001). The overlap group showed the lowest performance on the SDMT and PASAT compared to the other two groups (p < .01), while the MS group scored similarly to the HC in the PASAT (p > .05). Regarding the learning rate and long-term recall, the overlap group had lower scores compared to both the MS and HC (p < .001), but it outperformed both groups in the retention efficacy score (p < .001). The MS group did not differ significantly from the HC in these memory domains (p > .05).

Conclusion: The overlap group exhibited a broader range of impairments, including slower processing speed, decreased working memory, reduced learning rate, and long-term retrieval deficits. Their retention ability remained intact. The coexistence of MS with SLE pathology had additive impacts on cognitive function.

Keywords: Memory; Multiple sclerosis (MS); Neuropsychological profiles; Processing speed; Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) features.

MeSH terms

Cognition Disorders*
Cognitive Dysfunction* / diagnosis
Cognitive Dysfunction* / etiology
Humans
Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* / complications
Multiple Sclerosis* / complications
Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting* / pathology
Neuropsychological Tests