Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is associated with asymptomatic malaria in a rural community in Burkina Faso.

OBJECTIVE To investigate 4 combinations of mutations responsible for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency in a rural community of Burkina Faso, a malaria endemic country. METHODS Two hundred individuals in a rural community were genotyped for the mutations A376G, G202A, A542T, G680T and T968C using TaqMan single nucleotide polymorphism assays and polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism. RESULTS The prevalence of the G6PD deficiency was 9.5% in the study population. It was significantly higher in men compared to women (14.3% vs 6.0%, P=0.049). The 202A/376G G6PD A- was the only deficient variant detected. Plasmodium falciparum asymptomatic parasitaemia was significantly higher among the G6PD-non-deficient persons compared to the G6PD-deficient (P<0.001). The asymptomatic parasitaemia was also significantly higher among G6PD non-deficient compared to G6PD-heterozygous females (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS This study showed that the G6PD A- variant associated with protection against asymptomatic malaria in Burkina Faso is probably the most common deficient variant.