Genetic variants of human erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase: new characterization data obtained by multivariate analysis.

Thirteen variables used in the course of characterization of G6PD variants from forty-one individuals have been submitted to multivariate factorial and cluster analysis. Because of the diagrammatic representation of the analysis, two main findings were made possible. Firstly, the three-dimensional plot of the experimental data gives the advantage of a model of classification which is closely related to the ethnogeographical origin of the subjects, and to the clinical and haematological incidence of the G6PD variants. Secondly, cluster analysis visualizes the distance between the G6PDs examined. In this respect, it was determined that three local original variants associated with acute haemolytic anaemia showed a close relationship and belonged to the same cluster (Gd(-) Toulouse, Gd(-) Muret and Gd(-) Colomiers). Conversely, two non-haemolytic variants (G6PD Luz Saint Sauveur and Lozère) were found to be linked in another remote cluster. The procedure developed in this work promotes a new approach to G6PD characteristics in human genetic studies.