Investigation of Glucose-6-phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency in Rafsanjan, Autumn 2004

G6PD (Glucose -6- phosphate dehydrogenase) is the first enzyme of pentose phosphate pathway, which plays an important role in NADPH production. NADPH is necessary for preventing of cell oxidation. Deficiency of this enzyme led to hemolysis in some situations. This study has been done to determine the prevalence of G6PD deficiency and its relation with sex, blood group, Rh and familial history of new born in Rafsanjan.

In this cross sectional study blood sample was collected on a special filter paper and the activity of G6PD was measured by fluorescent spot test. The data were analyzed by Chi-square and Fisher exact tesst. Significance was defined as p<0.05.

There were 523 boys and 495 girls out of 1018 alive newborns. The G6PD deficiency was 5.7% for boys, 4.2% for girls and 5% for all the alive newborns. No significant relation, between prevalence of G6PD deficiency and blood group, sex, familial history and Rh were found.

The G6PD deficiency prevalence in Rafsanjan is less than other parts of Iran and the worlds (10%-14.9%). Given the screening test is cheep and easy it is suggested to perform this test at birth to differentiate the relatively or completely deficient sample to prevent of health problems.