Drug-induced haemolysis in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.

People with the variants of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) deficiency common in the southern Chinese (Canton, B(-)Chinese, and Hong Kong-Pokfulam) have a moderate shortening of red-cell survival but no anaemia when they are in the steady state. With a cross-transfusion technique, primaquine, nitrofurantoin, and large doses of aspirin were found to aggravate the haemolysis while sulphamethoxazole did so only in some people. Individual differences in drug metabolism may be the reason for this. Many commonly used drugs reported to accentuate haemolysis in GPD deficiency did not shorten red-cell survival.