ERYTHROCYTE GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE DEFICIENCY: EVIDENCE OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NEGROES AND CAUCASIANS WITH RESPECT TO THIS GENETICALLY DETERMINED TRAIT*

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Abstract
Among subjects with a genetically determined deficiency in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) a quantitative difference was found between Caucasians and Negroes. Affected Caucasian males compared with affected Negro males have a significiantly lower G6PD activity in the whole erythrocyte population, the young red cells, and the leukocytes. In affected Negro subjects, G6PD activities in young red cells, though not approaching control levels, were distinctly higher than in old cells. Caucasian males, whose whole erythrocyte population had little or no detectable G6PD activity, showed relatively small differences in the amount of enzyme activity detectable in young compared with old cells. It is suggested that different genetic mechanisms account for the deficiency of G6PD in Negroes and in Caucasians.