Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in Malta

Abstract

This paper was read at the 12th Annual Clinical Meeting of the British Medical Association in Malta. In a survey carried out to establish the incidence of G-6-PD deficiency in Malta, a total of 1514 samples were tested by the brilliant cresyl blue screening method. 2.7% of the male and 1.9% of the female population were found to be enzyme deficient. Of the 295 samples tested by the quantitative assay, 22 were found to be enzyme deficient, and half of these showed an enzyme activity of less than 10% of the normal, and in the other half the activity ranged between 10 and 25%. The overall incidence of 2.7% of G-6-PD deficiency in the Maltese population revealed by this study, compares with that of neighbouring countries. Furthermore, the pattern of inheritance of the gene responsible for G-6-PD is well established, and it also shows why the incidence of G-6-PD deficiency found in the survey was higher in males than in females.