Autoantibodies are not associated with familial mediterranean fever

Objective: It has been suggested that Mediterranean fever (MEFV) gene mutations are also seen in certain autoimmune diseases and are related to severity of the disease activity. As most of the clinical symptoms of these inflammatory diseases are related to autoantibody positivity, we assessed autoantibody prevalence in patients with Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) and investigated the relationship between clinical involvement of FMF and the autoantibodies. There are a few studies on this subject with conflicting results. Patients and Methods: Fifty patients with FMF without attack and 27 healthy controls were enrolled to the study. Clinical characteristics of the patient group were questioned. Rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-cyclic citrulli­nated peptide (anti-CCP) values, Fluorescent antinuclear antibody (ANA), extractable nuclear antigen (ENA) profile was studied in both groups.Results: No statistically significant difference was found in ANA, ENA profile, anti-CCP, and RF positivi­ty between the groups (p>0.05). There was no relation­ship between the autoantibodies and the clinical status in patients with FMF. MEFV gene mutations were identified in 98% of the FMF patients.Conclusion: In conclusion, autoantibody positivity is similar to the healthy population in FMF. Although MEFV mutations affect clinical course in other autoantibody mediated diseases, it is not related to autoantibody formation in FMF.