Molecular Heterogeneity of Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency in Burkina Faso: G-6-PD Betica Selma and Santamaria in People with Symptomatic Malaria in Ouagadougou

The G-6-PD deficiency has an important polymorphism with genotypic variants such as 202A/376G, 376G/542T and 376G/968T known in West African populations. It would confer protection against severe forms of malaria although there are differences between the various associations in different studies. In this study we genotyped six (06) variants of the G-6-PD gene in people with symptomatic malaria in urban areas in Burkina Faso. One hundred and eighty-two (182) patients who tested positive using rapid detection test and microscopy were included in this study. A regular PCR with the GENESPARK G6PD African kit was run followed by electrophoresis, allowing initially to genotype six SNPs (G202A, A376G, A542T, G680T, C563T and T968C). Women carrying the mutations 202A and/or 376G were further typed by real-time PCR using TaqMan probes rs1050828 and rs1050829. In the study population the G-6-PD deficiency prevalence was 9.9%. In addition of G-6-PD A- (202A/376G) variant, 376G/542T and 376G/968T variants were also detected. Hemoglobin electrophoresis revealed that 22.5% (41/182) of the individuals had HbAC compared with2.2% with HbAS and one individual had double heterozygous HbSC. There was no correlation between the G-6-PD deficiency or haemoglobinopathies and symptomatic malaria infections in this study. Our study confirms that the G-6-PD deficiency does not confer protection against Plasmodium falciparum infections. As opposed to previous genotyping studies carried out in Burkina Faso, this study shows for the first time the presence of the variant A- (376G/968C) and warrants further investigation at the national level and in specific ethnic groups.