Relationship between hyperglycemic states and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity among patients with type 2 diabetes in Kano, Nigeria

Abstract

The relationship between the degree of hyperglycaemia and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity was investigated in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) attending Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. The study subjects consisted of thirty patients with T2D between the ages of 30–50 years who were divided into low glycaemia group (LGDG; n = 14), with fasting blood glucose (FBG) level ≤ 7 mM and high glycaemia group (HGDG; n = 16)with FBG level > 7 mM. Ten apparently healthy age and sex-matched individuals served as the normal control group (NCG; n = 10). The FBG, G6PD activity and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) level were determined for all subjects. The HGDG had a significant (P 0.05) FBG level (6.10 ± 0.76 mM) compared to the NCG. Conversely, the HGDG had a significantly (P < 0.05) 2-fold lower plasma G6PD activity (24.85 ± 10.72 mU/gHb) compared with the NCG (55.21 ± 10.20 mU/gHb) with no significant difference in the plasma G6PD activity of the LGDG (55.25 ± 18.05 mU/gHb) compared to the NCG. Correlation analyses revealed a strong negative correlation (r = − 0.75) between FBG level and plasma G6PD activity in the HGDG only and not in the LGDG. The data suggests that reduced G6PD activity in the plasma of type 2 diabetic patients in Kano, Nigeria, is mainly associated with poor glycemic control.