Anaesthesia recommendations for patients suffering from Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD deficiency) is an enzymopathy of red blood cells in humans [18]. It is an X-linked, hereditary genetic defect, prevalent in up to 400 million people worldwide mainly in about 10% of African-Americans as well as to a lower frequency in the Mediterranean people [15,18]. It is known that G6PD-deficient cells protect against the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in women by means of slowest parasite growing in these cells or earlier phagocytosis by macrophages [9,10,41,46]. G6PD is an enzyme necessary for the production of antioxidants, which protect red blood cells from oxidative stressors [18]. In case of G6PD deficiency, red blood cells can be damaged by oxidative stresses from certain drugs, metabolic conditions (diabetic ketoacidosis, metabolic acidosis), infections [5,28,44], hypothermia, lawsone (Henna), ingestion of fava beans or stress related to surgical interventions, resulting in haemolysis [17,18].