Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency and incidence of cataract in Sicily.

The incidence of G6PD deficiency in red blood cells of 241 Sicilian cataractous patients (138 males and 103 females) and in the lens of 32 subjects (15 males and 17 females) of the same group was evaluated. The incidence of G6PD deficiency was significantly higher than expected (p less than 0.001), both in RBCs and in lens. The results suggest that G6PD deficiency is a risk factor for cataract both in hemizygous males and heterozygous females.