OBJECTIVE: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are very common in the general 
population. Atherosclerosis is the main pathogenesis. Familial Mediterranean 
fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disease. The gene causing FMF, designated 
MEFV, encodes a protein called pyrin or marenostrin that is expressed mainly in 
myeloid bone marrow precursors, neutrophils and monocytes. We herein aimed to 
determine the prevalence of MEFV mutations (all exon 2, 10 mutations) in 
patients with early coronary heart disease (early CHD) and coronary heart 
disease (CHD) with multiple risk factors and among the healthy subjects as 
controls.
METHODS: A total of 197 patients and 119 healthy subjects were recruited and 
enrolled into three groups in terms of inclusion criteria. Ninety-one patients 
diagnosed with early CHD enrolled into group one (men < 45 years of age, women 
< 40 years of age), 106 patients with CHD (men > 50 years of age) to group two 
and 119 healthy controls enrolled into group three. None of patients was 
diagnosed with FMF. The diagnosis of CHD was established on electrocardiographic 
changes, echocardiography and coronary angiography.
RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients (41.8%) with early CHD, 17 patients (16%) with 
CHD and 24 healthy controls (20.2%) carried at least one mutated MEFV allele. 
Young patients with CHD have different risk factor profiles, clinical 
presentations and prognoses than older patients. Young patients with CHD usually 
have multiple risk factors.
CONCLUSION: This study suggests that MEFV mutations in early CHD patients had 
significantly increased in contrast to CHD patients and healthy controls.