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Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency historical perspective


Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Mahda Alihashemi M.D. [2]

Overview

G6PD deficiency was first discovered more than 50 years ago. Prisoner volunteers were given primaquine and some of them developed hemolytic anemia

Historical Perspective

Discovery

  • G6PD deficiency was first discovered more than 50 years ago.[1]
  • The association between primaquine and discovery of G6PD deficiency was made during a study at Illinois State Penitentiary. Prisoner volunteers were given primaquine and some of them developed hemolytic anemia.[2]
  • Numerous soldiers developed hemolytic anemia after taking primaquine to prevent relapsing infection by plasmodium vivax during Korean War. Most of them are from North African and Mediterranean.

References

  1. Beutler E (January 2008). “Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency: a historical perspective”. Blood. 111 (1): 16–24. doi:10.1182/blood-2007-04-077412. PMID 18156501.
  2. Baird K (May 2015). “Origins and implications of neglect of G6PD deficiency and primaquine toxicity in Plasmodium vivax malaria”. Pathog Glob Health. 109 (3): 93–106. doi:10.1179/2047773215Y.0000000016. PMC 4455359. PMID 25943156.

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