Methylene blue reduction and disorders of the pentose phosphate pathway - abstract

When methylene blue (MeB) is incubated with normal blood it is reduced to leucomethylene blue. This has been utilized as the basis of a screening test for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency by Sass and others +. The absorbance (As) at 615 nm of the supernatant abtained following centrifugation of blood samples of 72 normal males and 108 females incubated with MeB was less than 0.22. For 25 G6PD deficient males and 32 G6PD deficient females As > 0.28, but for two males and 26 females with apparently normal G6PD activity As > 0.23. Evidence is presented to support the view that such anomalous results may be due to 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase deficiency or to variable X-inactivation in G6PD deficient females (AU)