MEFV gene mutations in Egyptian patients with familial Mediterranean fever

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by recurrent attacks of fever and serositis. The disease affects mainly Mediterranean populations and is caused by mutations in the MEFV gene.

This work was carried out to identify and determine the frequencies of MEFV gene mutations in Egyptian patients in whom FMF was diagnosed.

We investigated 316 patients with a clinical diagnosis of FMF for 12 MEFV mutations including the 5 most common known mutations M694V, V726A, M694I, M680I, and E148Q by allele-specific hybridization.

Mutations were detected in 182 (57.6%) patients: 20 were homozygous, 80 were compound heterozygous, and 82 had only one identifiable mutant allele. In patients with clinically definite FMF (n = 112), no mutations were detected in 28 patients; whereas in patients with clinically unlikely FMF (n = 48), genetic analysis established the diagnosis in 6 patients. Overall, 10 mutations were detected in our patients. The most common were M694I (34%), E148Q (22.7%), V726A (15.6%), M680I (12.1%), and M694V (7.8%). M694V was observed in severe disease and in patients with amyloidosis.

We were able to identify a wide spectrum of MEFV mutations in Egyptian patients in whom FMF was diagnosed. Frequencies of individual mutations showed some differences from those in other Mediterranean populations.