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.