Neonatal Screening for Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase Deficiency in Ardabil Province, Iran, 2018-2019

Abstract

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is one of the most common genetic deficiencies that affect approximately 400 million people worldwide. This study aimed to identify neonates with G6PD deficiency in Ardabil province during 2017-2018. This cross-sectional study was conducted on all term and preterm newborns in Ardabil Province from April 2018 to April 2019. The sampling method was census and in study duration, 1044 newborns were entered in the study. For each infant, severe hyperbilirubinemia (total serum bilirubin equal or greater than 300 micromol/L) was tested by the diazo method and G6PD was evaluated by Fluorescent Spot Test (FST). Of all infants, 15 (1.4 %) were diagnosed to have G6PD deficiency by FST. The prevalence of G6PD deficiency was significantly in boys higher than in girls (80% vs. 20%, p=0.001). Of all infants, 97 (9.3%) had jaun dice 72 hours after birth that of them 7 neonates (7.2%) had G6PD deficiency. Results showed that the prevalence of G6PD deficiency in this study was less than in other places in Iran that may be because of different ethnicity and demographic features.