Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) in Moroccan Jews: Demonstration of a founder effect by extened haplotype analysis

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disease causing attacks of fever and serositis. The FMF gene (designated MEF') is on 16p, with the gene order 16 cen-D16S80-MEF-D16S94-D16S283-D16S291-16pter. Here the authors report the association of FMF susceptibility with alleles at D16S94, D16S283, and D16S291 among 31 non-Ashkenazi Jewish families 14 Moroccan families. For the non-Moroccans, only the allelic association at D16S94 approached statistical significance. Haplotype analysis showed that 18/25 Moroccan FMF chromosomes, versus 0/21 noncarrier chromosomes, bore a specific haplotype for D16S94-D16S283-D16S291. Among non-Moroccans this haplotype was present in 6/26 FMF chromosomes versus 1/28 controls. Both groups of families are largely descended from Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition. The strong haplotype association seen among the Moroccans is most likely a founder effect, given the recent origin and genetic isolation of the Moroccan Jewish community. The lowest haplotype frequency among non-Moroccan carriers may reflect differences both in history and in population genetics. 28 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs.