Duffy antigen polymorphisms and analysis of Duffy genotype and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in Mauritania
The Duffy blood antigen is the main receptor for Plasmodium vivax, which can remain dormant in the liver as hypnozoites, causing persistent infections. Antimalarial drugs like primaquine and tafenoquine can eliminate hypnozoites but may cause hemolytic anemia in people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. Duffy genotypes and their predicted phenotypes were determined in 1,145 blood samples from Mauritanian patients belonging to different ethnic groups with a known G6PD genotype, using a cost-saving multiplexed barcoding technique that allows simultaneous analysis of a large number of samples.