Mapping of a Gene Causing Familial Mediterranean Fever to the Short Arm of Chromosome 16

Familial Mediterranean fever is a disorder characterized by intermittent attacks of fever with abdominal pain, pleurisy, or arthritis; its symptoms are not apparent between attacks. This inherited autosomal-recessive disease affects primarily members of non-Ashkenazi Jewish, 1 Armenian, 2 Turkish, 3 and Middle Eastern Arab 4 populations. The frequency of the disease gene among these populations is extraordinarily high, reaching 1 in 22 among Jews in North Africa and 1 in 14 among Armenians in Los Angeles. 5 Until prophylaxis with daily oral colchicine was instituted, the disorder was a major cause of amyloidosis with renal failure among Turks and non-Ashkenazi Jews. 1 , 3 , 6 Attacks of familial Mediterranean . . .