Vol.23 No.5

Original Article

Increased frequency of MEFV gene mutations in patients with primary dysmenorrhea

Authors

Sukran Erten11 , A. Altunoglu2 , H. L. Keskin3 , G. G. Ceylan4 , A. Yaz?c?5 , A. F. Dalgaci3 , G. Uyan?k3 , A. F. Avsar3

  • Department of Rheumatology, Romatoloji Poliklinigi, Ataturk Egitim ve Arastirma Hastanesi, 06800 Ankara, Turkey
  • Department of Nephrology, Atat?rk Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
  • Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Atat?rk Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
  • Department of Molecular Genetics, Atat?rk Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
  • Department of Rheumatology, Sakarya Education and Research Hospital, Sakarya, Turkey
Received:

27 July 2012

Accepted:

25 September 2012

Published online:

10 October 2012

Full Text

PDF　(member's only)

Abstract

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.

Key words

Dysmenorrhea, MEFV gene, Familial Mediterranean fever, FMF, Abdominal pain