This is the most common type of amyloidosis in the United States and is usually treated with chemotherapy. Primary amyloid is not associated with any other diseases. Secondary amyloid is caused by a chronic infection or inflammatory disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, familial Mediterranean fever, osteomyelitis, or granulomatous ileitis. The deposits inthis type of the disease are made up of a protein called the AA protein. Medical or surgical treatment of the underlying chronic infection or inflammatory disease can slow down or stop the progression of this type of amyloid.
Familial amyloid is the only type of amyloidosis that is inherited.
It is a rare form of the disease and is found in families of nearly every ethnic background. The transthyretin protein is manufactured in the liver, and it is a mutation of this protein that causes hereditary amyloidosis. More than 50 different mutations in transthyretin are known in connection with this type of amyloidosis. There are other proteins with mutations which can cause familial amyloidosis, but these are very rare. They include apolipoprotein A1, gelsolin, fibrinogen, and lysozyme.