Erythrocyte glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency frequency in Gaziantep, Turkey

Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency manifests genetic polymorphism and prevalence of its varying among geographic regions and ethnic groups. G6PD deficiency is important in Gaziantep, Turkey because high deficiency prevalence was observed in Adana and Antakya, the neighbouring Mediterranean cities. Methods: In this study, sera from 306 subjects (166 female, 140 male) between 1-80 years old were for erythrocyte G6PD activity with International Committee for Standardization in Hematology (ICSH) method. After excluding the outliers, 95 % interpercentile interval was accepted as reference limit. Results: In Gaziantep reference group erythrocyte G6PD activity limits for subjects over one year old are 6.4 - 13.2 U/ g Hb, 30ºC. Seven subjects with low enzyme activities indicate that G6PD deficiency frequency is approximately 2.3 ± 1% in Gaziantep. Conclusion: G6PD deficiency frequence is approximately 2.3 ± 1 % in Gaziantep which is higher than the mean prevalence in Turkey.