Genetic heterogeneity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in south-east Sicily

In order to explore the nature of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency in south-east Sicily, we have analysed the G6PD gene in 25 unrelated males with abnormal G6PD activity and/or electrophoretic mobility, by using the analysis of the appropriate PCR-amplified fragment of DNA and subsequent digestion by appropriate restriction-enzymes, looking for the presence of certain known G6PD mutations. We amplified the entire G6PD coding sequence into eight fragments, followed by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and sequencing of those individual fragments that were found to be abnormal by SSCP. Through these methods we found a total of twelve G6PD Mediterranean variants with the association of a silent mutation 1311 (also known as polymorphic site Bcl I), one G6PD Mediterranean without this association, four G6PD A-Val 68 and two G6PD Santamaria and five G6PD Chatham. In a subject with normal activity a mutation was found in exon 5, designated as G6PD Sao Borja. This is the first report on the molecular analysis of G6PD mutations in Sicily and we have obtained evidence for four distinct classes of variants.