Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common enzyme deficiency, affecting approximately 400 million people world-wide. It manifests as red blood cell (RBC) destruction in response to oxidative stress, which can be precipitated by infection, and by the ingestion of certain medications and foods. The prevalence of G6PD deficiency varies among populations and is most commonly found in individuals from sub-Saharan Africa, the Mediterranean region, and south-east Asia. Although in most studies G6PD-deficient individuals have normal RBC survival at steady-state, this may vary based upon the G6PD variant present, and some individuals may have shortened RBC survival. While it is not routine practice to screen blood donors for G6PD deficiency, G6PD deficient donor RBCs may store more poorly than normal RBCs. In addition, the transfusion of stored G6PD-deficient RBCs may result in decreased RBC survival after transfusion compared to RBCs from normal donors.
