Demographic findings and determination of the frequency of biological therapy in familial mediterranean fever patients

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of biological agent use and colchicine resistance in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). Material and Methods: 246 males, 488 females in the total of 734 patients with a diagnosis of FMF, were included in this retrospective study. According to the Livneh diagnostic criteria, the data of patients diagnosed as FMF was recorded retrospectively. Age, sex, family history, frequency of attack, presence of amyloidosis, use of biological therapy, history of concomitant disease, colchicine treatment doses, use of additional treatments, presence of sacroileitis, prolonged arthritis, based on the history obtained at the time of admission to the rheumatology polyclinic The presence of MEFV gene analysis was recorded. All patients were evaluated statistically in terms of demographic and clinical features. Results: The mean age of 734 patients diagnosed with FMF at our center was 38.84 ± 13.79 (14-81). Of the 734 patients included in the study, 33.5% were male (n = 246) and 66.5% were female (n = 488). 61.3% of the patients had a history of FMF in their families (n = 450). When the patients were examined according to their clinical characteristics, arthritis was present in 49.5% (n = 363) of the patients. In 12.3% of the patients (n = 90), there was a sacroileitis clinic. Amyloidosis was present in 10.2% (n = 75) of the patients. MEFV gene mutations were positive in 54.4% (n = 399) of the patients in our study group. M694V gene mutation was the most commonly observed gene mutation [17.9% (n = 131)]. A total of 81 patients who were not in remission, were resistant to colchicine and who were treated with biological agents were found to have a 2 mg/day colchicine dose. When the frequences of biological treatment were compared, Anakinra was the most frequently used biological treatment (3.8% (n = 28)). The frequency of other biological treatments were as follows: Etanercept 3% (n = 22), Adalimumab 1.5% (n = 11), Infliximab 1% (n = 7), Golimumab 0.7% (n = 5), Canakinumab 0.5% (n = 4) , Secukinumab 0.4% (n = 3), Certolizumab 0.1% (n = 1). IL-1 blocker users and colchicine treated patients were similars in terms of MEFV mutation frequency and M694V mutations. Key Words: Familial Mediterranean Fever, MEFV gene mutation, colchicine resistance, biological agent