Sickle cell disease in Bahrain: coexistence and interaction with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency.

The object was to determine the frequency of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in Bahraini individuals with HbS as compared to those without HbS. Haemolysates of erythrocytes from 310 Bahraini individuals attending Health Centres were obtained, electrophoresed on cellulose acetate at PH 8.2-8.6, and stained for G6PD. HbS was present in 125 individuals (study group) and in 185 only HbA was present (control group). G6PD deficiency (very low to undetectable) was identified in 59 samples (47 per cent) of the study group and 35 (19 per cent) of the control group. A positive correlation between G6PD deficiency and HbS is present in Bahraini individuals tested. This is similar to the situation in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. We speculate that the observation could be explained on the basis of historic endemicity of Falciparum malaria in both regions on the East coast of the Saudi Peninsula.