Prevalence of β-Thalassemia Trait and Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency in Iranian Jews

Background assemia is the most common inherited single gene disorder worldwide, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common human enzyme deficiency. The goal of this study was to compare the frequency of β-thalassemia trait and G6PD among the Moslem and Jewish populations in Shiraz, southern Iran. s mined 201 Moslems and 187 Jewish subjects who were selected by random sampling. For diagnosis of thalassemia, complete blood count and hemoglobin electrophoresis were carried out and for G6PD deficiency, fluorescent spot test methods were used as a screening test. s Moslem subjects, 14 cases (7.0%) were diagnosed as carriers of β-thalassemia minor, whereas no carriers were detected among Jewish subjects. Seven Moslems (7%) and eight Jewish subjects (7.5%) were found to have G6PD deficiency. Among both groups the most common mutation was the Mediterranean type (563 C>T). In one Moslem subject, the detected mutation was 1003 (G>A) and in two Jewish subjects the mutations were 1376 (G>T) and G6PD A−. sions s the frequency of β-thalassemia minor among Moslems is higher than in the Jews in Shiraz, the frequency of G6PD deficiency was not significantly different in the two populations. These findings suggest that obligatory premarital β-thalassemia screening for Jews in the community is not necessary, whereas neonatal screening for G6PD could be useful for both Jews and Moslems.