Relationship between Exposure to Icterogenic Agents, Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency and Neonatal Jaundice in Nigeria

ABSTRACT. In a study of the relationship between exposure to icterogenic agents, G-6-PD deficiency and severe neonatal jaundice (NNJ) (serum bilirubin 3±205 umol/I) in 234 Nigerian term male neonates, 106 infants with severe NNJ and 128 controls, it was found that 62.3 % of the jaundiced infants and 13.3 % of the infants without NNJ were G6PD deficient (p<0.01). The proportion of infants exposed to icterogenic agents in the two groups was very similar (p<0.5). There was a strong association between exposure to icterogenic agents and NNJ in 83 G6PD deficient infants (p<0.01), but there was no association between exposure to icterogenic agents and NNJ in the whole group of 234 infants or in 151 infants with normal G6PD status. It is concluded that there is an association between genetically determined G-6-PD deficiency and exogenous agents in causing severe NNJ in Nigerian infants.