Classification of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase variants by multivariate statistical analysis.

Using principal component analysis a two-dimensional presentation of kinetic parameters from various G6PD-variants was obtained from which similarities between individual enzymes became detectable. Conclusions could be drawn as to how far the kinetic parameters contribute to the discrimination between different variants. An objective classification of G6PD-variants was achieved by application of cluster analysis. The proposed methods provide an effective means for differential elucidation of G6PD-variants and other heterogeneous enzymopathies.