Objective: The aim of this study was to determine Acetylcholinesterase (AChE), Butyrilcholinesterase (BChE), Adenosine Deaminase (ADA) and Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activities in patients with Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) during attacks and attack-free periods. Although an inflammatory process is the main pathology in FMF, the activities of AChE, BChE and MPO which might be affected by inflammation has not yet been assessed in FMF. 

Materials and Methods: The subjects were divided into 3 groups: Group 1. FMF patients in acute attack period (FMF-AP); Group 2. FMF patients in attack-free period (FMF-AFP); Group 3. Healthy Control subjects (HC). The first two groups consisted of 41 and 35 patients, respectively. Thirty individuals without a history of other potential health problems constituted the healthy control (HC) group. We measured the activities of MPO, ADA, AChE and BChE in whole blood and serum of the study groups. Acute phase reactants (AFP) were also evaluated.

Results: In the current study, while ADA and MPO activities increased, AChE decreased significantly in both whole blood and serum in FMF-AP group, BChE decreased in only whole blood in this group compared with FMF-AFP and HC groups (p<0.05). In FMF-AP group, both whole blood and serum ADA (r=0.313, r=0.267), and MPO (r=0.341, r=0.253) activities were correlated with C-reactive protein, respectively (all p values <0.001).

Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that there are significant differences between FMF-AP and other groups in terms of AChE, BChE, ADA and MPO activities. Thus, we suggest that elevated ADA, MPO and decreased AChE and BChE activities may be considered as supportive markers to distinguish FMF attacks from attack-free periods. However, further larger-scale studies are needed to validate these results.