Familial Mediterranean Fever Associated with MEFV Mutations in a Large Cohort of Cypriot Patients

Vassos Neocleous, Constantina Costi, Christina Kyriakou, Tassos C. Kyriakides, Christos Shammas, Nicos Skordis, Meropi Toumba, Sophia Kyriakou, Maria Koliou, Marianna Kousparou, Margarita Onoufriou, Adamos Hadjipanayis, Michalis Iasonides, Vick N. Atamyan, Alkis Pierides, Violetta Christophidou-Anastasiadou, George A. Tanteles, Leonidas A. Phylactou

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is caused by mutations in the MEFV gene and the spectrum of mutations among Greek-Cypriots with FMF-related symptoms was examined. Sequence analysis for exons 2, 3, 5, and 10 of the MEFV gene was performed in a cohort of 593 patients. A total of 70 patients carried mutations in the homozygote or compound heterozygote state, 128 were identified with one MEFV mutation and 395 had no mutations. Of the 268 identified alleles, p.Val726Ala (27.61%) was the most frequent followed by p.Met694Val (19.40%). The missense mutations p.Arg761His (3.73%) and p.Ala744Ser (2.24%) were identified as the rarest. An interesting finding is the high frequency (18.28%) of the complex p.Phe479Leu-p.Glu167Asp that was identified in 49 of the mutated alleles. The MEFV genotypes did not follow a binomial distribution and proved not to satisfy the HWE (P < 0.001). The high percentage (66.61%) of patients with unidentified mutations could be due to mutations in the rest of the coding or noncoding MEFV gene or due to mutations in other genes that are also causing Hereditary Recurrent Fevers. Results from this work indicate the high incidence of FMF in Cyprus and describe the spectrum of the mutations which occur in the country.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)20-27
Number of pages8
JournalAnnals of Human Genetics
Volume79
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2015

Keywords

  • Cyprus
  • FMF
  • Hereditary recurrent fevers
  • MEFV

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