Familial Mediterranean fever gene and protection against asthma.
BACKGROUND
Asthma is an inflammatory airway disease caused by interaction between susceptibility genes and diverse environmental factors. In Israel, asthma seems to be familial and more severe in patients of Iraqi Jewish descent. On the other hand, asthma is less frequent in individuals with familial Mediterranean fever, an autoinflammatory disease prevalent in the Iraqi Jewish community and linked to mutations in the familial Mediterranean fever gene, designated MEFV.


OBJECTIVE
To explore a possible role for mutated MEFV in the reduced susceptibility to asthma and to determine its expression in Israeli subjects of Iraqi origins.


METHODS
Using a case-control approach, we studied the presence of the 3 most common MEFV mutations (M694V, V726A, and E148Q) in DNA samples from 75 patients with asthma and 45 asymptomatic first-degree relatives, all of Iraqi Jewish origin. The severity of asthma was evaluated using a published severity score.


RESULTS
Eleven patients with asthma and 14 of their relatives carried 1 or 2 mutations in the MEFV gene, a carrier rate significantly lower in patients with asthma than in their first-degree relatives and in ethnically matched healthy individuals (P < .03 and P < .003, respectively). Carriers of MEFV mutations had less severe disease, compared with noncarriers (P < .002).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that MEFV mutations may have a protective effect in the pathogenesis of asthma.
Rabinovitch
Einat
E
Heller Institute of Medical Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
Harats
Dror
D
Yaron
Pnina
P
Luvish
Tamar
T
Lidar
Merav
M
Kedem
Ron
R
Shaish
Aviv
A
Ben-Dov
Issahar
I
Livneh
Avi
A
D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D010505:Familial Mediterranean Fever / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq / Q000208:ethnology; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D017354:Point Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
D004247:DNA