The Critical Importance of Testing for Glucose 6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase When Determining Treatment Options for COVID-19
- G6PD deficiency is an enzyme deficiency that is unknown by most patients who have it. Chloroquine, and it’s two common derivative forms, Chloroquine Phosphate and Hydroxychloroquine, are drugs long used to treat malaria and are currently being used for those stricken with COVID-19
- These drugs have contraindications on their labels regarding G6PD deficient patients. Exposure to specific triggers may result in hemolytic crisis* (See chart below)
- It is critical to understand the patient’s exact level of severity prior to and during medical therapies to eliminate the risk of severe adverse reactions xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
- Chloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment can be administered with hemolytic crisis avoided if the G6PD level of severity is able to be identified
Why Quantitative Tests Should be the Preferred G6PD Testing Method:
- ]Quantitative tests measure G6PD activity in a whole blood sample and provide a quantitative result for G6PD activity. Quantitative tests are able to accurately measure. G6PD activity for all individuals, from those with severe G6PD deficiency (<10% normal) to those with high G6PD activity (>100% normal)
- ]Typically quantitative tests normalize the G6PD activity per red blood cell count or hemoglobin concentration in order to account for varying individual hematocrit ranges at the time of sampling.
- ]Quantitative tests can detect individuals with intermediate G6PD activity, such as females who are heterozygous for G6PD deficiency.
- ]Quantitative tests can be used to independently determine the threshold at which to exclude patients from the standard daily dose of primaquine, based on an assessment of risks and benefits. (1)
Guide to G6PD Deficiency Rapid Diagnostic Testing – World Health Organization
How MedTest Dx Can Help:
- We offer the only open channel chemistry reagent that has been adapted to on-board sample prep and testing
- Our test yields quantitative results; our system provides the clinician with valuable quantitative information regarding the severity of the deficiency which may impact their treatment options
- Our test is very cost effective and offers the same turnaround time as standard chemistry tests
Product Highlights
- FDA 510(k) Cleared
- FDA registered GMP facility
- ISO 13485 Certified
- Manufactured in the U.S.A.
We Will Work With You To Make This Immediately Available To your Patients By Providing:
- Support in the Development of Your Evaluation Protocol Support
- Validation Assistance
- Guidance To Your Existing Instrument Manufacture In Order To On Board The New Open Channel Test
- Statistical Analysis of Data from Validation Testing – EP Evaluator
- Ongoing Technical Support
Application Support for the following Manufacturer’s Chemistry Systems
- Abbott
- Beckman Coulter
- Roche
- Siemens
- Alfa Wasserman
- Horiba
Pointe Scientific reagents for G6PD spectrophotometry testing is considered the gold standard for the sensitive and accurate quantitative determination of G6PD in blood. Unlike other G6PD assays, which require a total of 30 minutes of sample preparation steps, the Pointe Scientific G6PD assay requires only a single 5-minute lysing step and can be on-board lysed, reducing the time to results of the determination of G6PD activity levels in whole blood.
Additional Resources:
- https://www.hematologyadvisor.com/home/topics/general-hematology/case-study-reveals-glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase-deficiency-linked-to-worse-sars-cov-2-infection/ 7/24/20
- https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/9/20-2353_article 6/24/2020
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0188440920309486 6/7/20
- https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-belgian-afmps-warns-about-risk-of-94930/ 4/20/20
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7166036/ 4/18/20
- https://tinyurl.com/ycb89eoz 4/18/20
- https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/85929 (4/13/20)
References:
- Guide to G6PD deficiency rapid diagnostic testing to support P. vivax radical cure, World Health Organization
