Blood oxidative stres biomarkers in patients with Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF)

Interest in the relationship between oxidative stress and inflammation has increased in recent years. Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) represents a suitable autoinflammatory disease model for investigation of this relationship. We aimed to determine blood oxidative stress biomarkers in patients with FMF in both acute attacks and in attack-free periods, and to evaluate its associations with pyrine mutations and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. The mean levels of CRP and serum lipid hydroperoxide were higher and serum superoxide dismutase and catalase activities were lower in patients with FMF than in healthy volunteers. Serum lipid hydroperoxide levels were higher and antioxidants were lower in FMF patients during an acute attack than in the attack-free period. Serum lipid hydroperoxide levels were significantly higher, and antioxidants were significantly lower in patients with the M694V homozygous mutations than the other genotypes. Our data imply that higher serum lipid hydroperoxide and lower antioxidant enzyme activities in FMF may indicate inflammation-related 'oxidative stress'. Our findings also raise interesting questions on oxidative stress and its associations with pyrine mutations in FMF and awaits further investigations.