Prevalence of factor V Leiden, prothrombin G20210A, and MTHFR G677A among 594 thrombotic Jordanian patients

Venous thromboembolism develops as the result of multiple interactions between non-genetic and genetic risk factors. In order to estimate the frequency of factor V Leiden, prothrombin G20210A, and MTHFR C677T mutations in Jordanian thrombotic patients, we studied 594 patients admitted to the King Hussein Medical Center for thrombophilia assessment. Polymerase chain reaction detected 25.7% (20.7% heterozygous, 5% homozygous), 6% (5.8% heterozygous, 0.2% homozygous) and 31.7% (25% heterozygous, 6.7% homozygous) for factor V Leiden, prothrombin G20210A and MTHFR C677T mutations, respectively. A one-stage clotting assay was used to measure prothrombin activity. None of the prothrombin G20210A mutant patients had high prothrombin activity. The high prevalence found among our study group of factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A confirms the importance of thrombophilia screening for patients with venous thrombosis with family history and those with additional risk factors. On the contrary, the high prevalence of the MTHFR C677T mutation among arterial thrombosis patients shows its importance in screening in arterial thrombosis patients. These results, which are close to the prevalence found by other studies in the region, suggests that the Eastern Mediterranean region is probably the area of origin of these mutations, especially factor V Leiden. The knowledge of these frequencies in the Middle East region through population-based studies will contribute to a better understanding of the interaction between genetic and environmental risk factors underlying the mentioned mutations.