G-6-PD deficiency and malaria in Black Americans in Vietnam.

TLDR: The study undertaken in black Americans in Vietnam to determine whether G-6-PD deficiency has any influence on malarial incidence or the clinical severity of malarial infections suggested that G- 6-PD deficient males might have milder cases of malaria, or even have an overall lower incidence of malaria infection.

Abstract: : Although the sickle-cell gene in Negro populations has been proven to confer resistance to malarial infection, other genetic markers occurring predominantly in Negroes, including glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) deficiency, have not been shown to be associated with a lower incidence of Malaria. Human females heterozygous for G-6-PD deficiency, which is a sex-linked gene, have a mosaicism of red cells, and those cells deficient in G-6-PD were shown less likely to harbor P. falciparum parasites during an infection. This suggests that G-6-PD deficient males when compared with G-6-PD normal males might have milder cases of malaria, or perhaps even have an overall lower incidence of malaria infection. The study was undertaken in black Americans in Vietnam to determine whether G-6-PD deficiency has any influence on malarial incidence or the clinical severity of malarial infections.