Is There a Long-Term Risk for Donors With Heterozygous MEFV Mutation After Kidney Donation?
BACKGROUND
Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal-recessive autoinflammatory disorder manifested severely by systemic amyloidosis. It has been hypothesized that heterozygous carriers may also have susceptibility to certain symptoms or even diseases. Because the living kidney donors of patients with FMF are generally relatives of the kidney recipients, there is a high possibility that the donors will have a heterozygous mutation of the FMF gene. The goal of this study was to investigate the long-term kidney function of donors who are carriers of the Mediterranean fever (MEFV) gene.


METHODS
The medium- to long-term outcomes of 12 asymptomatic donors were compared with MEFV gene carriers and 24 non-FMF recipients' donors.


RESULTS
Heterozygous carriers and the control group were similar with respect to age, sex, and follow-up period. The preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate and 24-hour urine proteinuria levels were similar in the MEFV carrier and control groups. Four years after the donation, both groups had similar estimated glomerular filtration rates, but the change in 24-hour urine protein was statistically higher in the MEFV carrier group, and no significant change was observed in the control group (P = .004). At the end of the follow-up period, neither overt proteinuria nor kidney failure was seen in either group.


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed that the medium- to long-term results of the kidney donors who are carriers of the MEFV gene seem to be safe. However, there was more of a tendency for an increase in proteinuria in the MEFV gene carriers compared with control subjects, which necessitated further long-term care for these donors.
Department of Nephrology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: suleymankarakose@yahoo.com.
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Karakose
Department of Nephrology, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
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Erdogmus
Department of Nephrology, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
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Akturk
Department of General Surgery, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
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Tuzuner
Department of Nephrology, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
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Sengul
Department of Nephrology, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
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Keven
D000328:Adult; D010505:Familial Mediterranean Fever / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011507:Proteinuria; D000071198:Pyrin / Q000235:genetics*; D012306:Risk
C000604192:MEFV protein, human; D000071198:Pyrin