Increased frequency of MEFV gene mutations in patients with primary dysmenorrhea

• Published in: Modern rheumatology Vol. 23; no. 5; pp. 959 - 962
• Main Authors: Erten, Sukran, Altunoglu, A., Keskin, H. L., Ceylan, G. G., Yazıcı, A., Dalgaci, A. F., Uyanık, G., Avsar, A. F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Springer Japan 01-09-2013
• Subjects: Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Article; Orthopedics; Rheumatology; Abdominal pain; Familial Mediterranean fever; gene; Dysmenorrhea; FMF
• ISSN: 1439-7595; 1439-7609
• DOI: 10.1007/s10165-012-0779-6

Objectives
Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autoinflammatory disease characterized by recurrent attacks of fever and polyserositis and an autosomal recessive inheritance mode. Up to 15 % of FMF patients are reported to experience perimenstrual attacks. Primary dysmenorrhea could be an incomplete abdominal attack, or patients with dysmenorrhea may have increased frequency of
MEFV
gene mutation carriage. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the frequency of
MEFV
gene mutations in patients with dysmenorrhea.
Methods
Eighty-four patients with primary dysmenorrhea attending consecutively to our gynecology department and 73 healthy female controls selected from hospital staff were included in the study, and
MEFV
gene mutations were analyzed.
Results
The prevalence of total allelic variants was significantly increased in dysmenorrhea patients (
p
 = 0.015); analysis of individual variant rates revealed a significant increase in the frequency of
MEFV
gene mutations in dysmenorrhea patients compared with the control group (
p
 = 0.036).
Conclusion
Gynecologists and primary care physicians must be aware of FMF in the differential diagnosis of dysmenorrhea.