Familial Mediterranean fever in the Republic of Crimea: a description of a series of cases with an analysis of historical and ethnographic aspects of the disease

Abstract

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a monogenic autoinflammatory disease with a high prevalence in some countries. The carriers of the MEFV gene causing FML are Jews, Armenians, Turks, Arabs and other nationalities of Mediterranean origin. Crimean Tatars are one of the nations that inhabit the Crimean peninsula, who do not formally belong to Mediterranean populations. Until 2016, there were no data on FMF in Crimea among the Crimean Tatar population; however, 15 new cases of FMF have been diagnosed in the Republic of Crimea in the past 2 years. The paper provides data on FML patients and information about the ethnic origin of the Crimean Tatars, explaining the possible origin of mutant alleles in the population.

Keywords

• familial mediterranean fever
• periodic disease
• fever of unknown origin
• interleukin-1 blocker