MOLECULAR-BASIS OF GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE-DEHYDROGENASE (G6PD) DEFICIENCY IN 3 TAIWAN ABORIGINAL TRIBES

We have investigated glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficien cy in 220 unrelated aboriginal male subjects who belong to three diffe rent tribes (Saisiat, Ami, and Yami) in Taiwan. Our results show that the G6PD deficiency rates for Saisiat, Ami, and Yami people are 9.0% ( 6/67), 6.1% (6/99), and 0% (0/54), respectively. Among these deficienc y cases, 4 of 6 (66.7%) Saislat subjects have the 493 A-->G mutation a nd one carries the 1376 G-->T mutation, whereas, in Ami subjects, we f ound that four of six (66.7%) affected males have the 592 C-->T mutati on and one carries the 493 A-->G mutation. These results contrast with our previous findings for Taiwan Chinese, in whom the 1376 G-->T muta tion is the major mutant allele and accounts for 52.3% of the deficien cy cases. This is the first report of G6PD deficiency characterized at the DNA level in Taiwan aboriginal populations.