MEFV E148Q variant is more associated with familial Mediterranean fever when combined with other non-exon 10 MEFV variants in Japanese patients with recurrent fever

Abstract

Objective

To investigate the genetic characteristics of one of the MEFV gene variants, p.Glu148Gln (E148Q), in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) and examine its significance in Japanese patients with recurrent fever.

Methods

The clinical phenotype and genomic variants of systemic autoinflammatory diseases (SAIDs), including MEFV, were analyzed in 211 Japanese patients with recurrent fever. Genetic analysis was performed via next-generation sequencing of exons, including exon-intron boundaries.

Results

Twelve patients met the diagnostic criteria for SAIDs other than FMF. Considering 199 patients with recurrent fever, 137 cases (68.8%) were clinically diagnosed with FMF. Although Bonferroni-adjusted p-value did not reach significance level, the group containing heterozygous E148Q and other variants tended to be at higher risk of developing the FMF phenotype (nominal p = .036) than the group with heterozygous E148Q only. Comparison between the group with heterozygous E148Q and other variants and the heterozygous group containing non-E148Q showed no statistically significant difference in FMF phenotype expression (nominal p = 1.00).

Conclusion

Patients with heterozygous E148Q and other variants exhibited higher expression of FMF phenotype than those with heterozygous E148Q only, and suggested that other variants than E148Q as well as exon 10 variants might contribute to the FMF phenotype.

Keywords:

• E148Q
• familial Mediterranean fever
• MEFV
• recurrent fever

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Manabu Nakayama and Dr. Osamu Ohara for performing the genetic analysis and Ms. Yurina Iwanaga for analyzing the clinical data.

Conflict of interest

None.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the “Research on Measures for Intractable Diseases” grant from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare [H31-Nanchi-Ippan-020] to RN and HI and JSPS KAKENHI [Grant Number 19K08899] to HI.