Abstract
Aim Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autoinflammatory disease frequently observed in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Previous studies indicated that vitamin D, B12, and folate levels may decrease due to inflammatory processes; however, there is no clear data on the impact of attack frequency on these levels. Our study aims to evaluate the effect of FMF attack frequency on vitamin levels.
Material and Method Children diagnosed with FMF aged 4–18 who presented to pediatric nephrology clinic constituted study group, while healthy children who presented during same period and underwent vitamin level assessments formed control group. Study group was categorized based on number of attacks, with those experiencing 2 or fewer attacks annually classified as the attack group and those with 6 or more attacks classified as the frequent attack group.
Results 333 FMF patients were included in the study group, with 108 in the attack group, 225 in the frequent attack group. Simultaneously, 161 children from the same period were included in the control group. The median and standard deviation (SD) of 25(OH)D levels for the frequent attack, attack, and control groups were 14.3 (8.37), 14.8 (8.76), and 14.95 (9) ng/ml, respectively, showing no significant differences between groups (p=0.436). When B12 levels were examined in same order, median and SD were 320 (176), 328 (155), 373 (187) pg/ml, respectively, with a significant difference observed between the FMF and control groups (p=0.001). However, no relationship was found between B12 levels and attack frequency (p=0.92). Folic acid levels, with a median and SD of 6 (3.2), 6.8 (3.5), 7 (3.4) ng/ml, respectively, showed no significant variability (p=0.25).
Conclusions Given the widespread prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in community and higher incidence of vitamin B12 deficiency in FMF patients, routine screening of these two vitamin levels in FMF patients may assist in effectively identifying nutritional deficiencies.
