Insight into the Blood Microbiome of Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) Patient: Pilot Study 

Abstract Objectives Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is one of the most frequent Mediterranean genetic diseases. It is an autoinflammatory disorder caused by MEFV gene mutations. We investigated the blood microbiome composition in patients with FMF due to genetic disorder with single or double heterozygosity compared to control subjects. Methods We analyzed the blood microbiome of 10 FMF patients (5 Heterozygote and 5 double heterozygote) and 10 controls targeting the V3-V4 within 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid gene by using the next generation sequencing with the Illumina MiSeq platform, bioinformatics and statistic methods. Results Compared to the control subjects, significant changes in blood microbiome were detected in FMF patient group. The abundance of families; Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae, Micrococcaceae, Corynebacteriaceae, Rhodobacteraceae, Clostridiaceae, Camobacteriaceae, and Dermabacteraceae was significantly lower than the control by expressing P value < 0.05. Conclusions blood microbiome dysbiosis in FMF revealed the potential correlation of the blood microbiome in such disease clinical course, which will open the door for further research to implement microbiome base in FMF treatment and prevention.