G6PD deficiency and fava bean consumption do not produce hemolysis in Thailand

Favism, a hemolytic condition associated with fava bean consumption among the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficient persons, is well described in the Middle East and Mediterranean areas. However, it is not well documented among the Thais or other Southeast Asians. It is possible that it...

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Published inSoutheast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health Vol. 22; no. 2; pp. 176 - 182
Main Authors KITAYAPORN, D, CHAROENLARP, P, PATTARAARECHACHAI, J, PHOLPOTI, T
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bangkok Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization, Regional Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network 01.06.1991
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Analgesics
Anemias. Hemoglobinopathies
Animals
Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
Antimalarials
Biological and medical sciences
Confounding Factors (Epidemiology)
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diseases of red blood cells
Fabaceae
Favism - epidemiology
Favism - physiopathology
Feeding Behavior
Female
Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency - epidemiology
Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency - physiopathology
Hematocrit
Hematologic and hematopoietic diseases
Hemolysis
Humans
Malaria, Falciparum
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Plants, Medicinal
Regression Analysis
Sex Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
Thailand - epidemiology
Tropical medicine
Thailand
Asia
Human
Hemoglobinopathy
Enzyme
Deficiency
Favism
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase
Hemopathy
Feeding
Genetic disease
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Summary:Favism, a hemolytic condition associated with fava bean consumption among the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficient persons, is well described in the Middle East and Mediterranean areas. However, it is not well documented among the Thais or other Southeast Asians. It is possible that it does exist but that hemolysis which develops is of very minor degree and thus escapes clinical detection. This cross-sectional study hypothesizes that if the fava bean and G6PD deficiency interact in the Thai population, they should cause a significant difference in hematocrit level. The study was carried out in a community hospital in a malaria endemic area. We found that there was a trivial difference of the hematocrit (approximately 1%) which was too small to warrant any clinical significance after controlling for the extraneous effects of age, sex, use of malaria chemoprophylaxis, falciparum infection, use of analgesics/antipyretics and admission status of the patients (p = 0.668). This may be due to the presence of different G6PD mutants to those found elsewhere or due to different consumption patterns of fava beans among the Thais compared to people in other areas with high prevalence of G6PD deficiency.
ISSN:0125-1562