Deficiency of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase found in a case of hepatic fructose-1,6-diphosphatase deficiency.

The first case of fructose-1,6-diphosphatase (FDPase) deficiency in Japan showed a decreased activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) in the liver, white, and red blood cells. In the enzymatic study of G6PD which was partially purified from red cells, the following characteristics were observed in the enzyme of the patient. 1) The G6PD activity of the patient was reduced to 17% of normal, but no evidence of a hemolytic episode was found in his past and family history. 2) In the investigation of G6PD of the patient, no abnormalities were observed in its enzymatic parameters such as electrophoretic mobility, Km for G6P and NADP, Ki for NADPH, the utilization of 2-deoxy G6P and deamino NADP, heat-stability, and pH curves. 3) The dissociation constants of red blood cell G6PD for NADP and NADPH, which were obtained from the investigations on the reactivation of cold-inactivated G6PD at 37 degrees C, were about 3 times higher in the patient as compared to the values of the normal controls. Based on these findings, it might be concluded that the G6PD deficiency found in the red blood cells of this case of a FDPase deficiency is a unique variant, which could not be characterized by using only the method recommended by a World Health Organization (WHO) scientific group. Considering that the abnormality observed in the G6PD of this patient was a decrease in the affinity of the enzyme for its coenzymes, the dissociation constants for the coenzymes in reactivation process might be another important kinetic parameter in characterizing the G6PD deficiency.