Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency and Malaria Infections in Brazil

G6PD deficiency (G6PDd) affects about 400 to 500 million individuals around the world and is widely distributed in regions of the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa. It is also known for being the most common enzymopathy. This is a recessive inheritance pattern linked to the X chromosome, with more than 185 variants already described, all of which are related to enzyme deficiency of varying intensity. Regions with high rates of malaria infection require rapid diagnosis of G6PDd because the drugs used in the therapeutic scheme for the radical cure of malaria, such as primaquine (PQ) and tafenoquine, present restrictions for people with G6PDd due to the drugs' ability to induce hemolysis and increase the risk of hospitalizations. In this context, considering the genetic alterations in G6PD and its possible implications in the treatment of malaria of the northern region of Brazil; the purpose of this study was to conduct a review of the last 17 years of literature on G6PD deficiency and malaria in Brazil. Papers were selected from the Medline/PubMed, LILACS and SCIELO databases, and publications between 2004 and 2021 that had a relationship with the topic were considered. After the inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 23 papers were selected for full-text analysis and development of the revision. In conclusion, the genotyping of G6PDd indicates the prevalence of the African variant, G6PD A-(G202A/A376G), which is the most common in Brazil and is a risk factor in the treatment of malaria due to its enzymatic phenotype. Therefore, the search for better, faster, easy-to-handle and low-cost screening tools for G6PD enzyme levels are essential for diagnosing deficiency before administering primaquine and tafenoquine in conventional doses, and thus reduce the chances of the patients developing complicated malaria.