High frequency of diabetes and impaired fasting glucose in patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in the Western brazilian Amazon.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is one of the most common human genetic abnormalities, and it has a significant prevalence in the male population (X chromosome linked). The purpose of this study was to estimate the frequency of impaired fasting glucose and diabetes among G6PD-deficient persons in Manaus, Brazil, an area in the Western Brazilian Amazon to which malaria is endemic. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient males had more impaired fasting glucose and diabetes. This feature could be used as a screening tool for G6PD-deficient persons who are unable to use primaquine for the radical cure of Plasmodium vivax malaria.