Do tribal communities show an inverse relationship between sickle cell disorders and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in malaria endemic areas of Central-Eastern India?

Genetic diversity of hemoglobinopathies, G6PD deficiency, and ABO and Rhesus blood groups in two isolates of a primitive Kharia Tribe in Sundargarh District of Northwestern Orissa, India

“…This medical aspect is important from an evolutionary biological point of view. These findings are consistent with our previous studies carried out in the state of Orissa in Central-Eastern India (Balgir 2006). It is difficult to say with the present set of data that this replacement is going on, or has ever taken place.…”

“…However, high morbidity and reproductive wastage in sickle cell disorders (trait and disease) has been reported (Balgir 2007a). G6PD deficiency in the red cells inhibits the malaria parasite survival (Balgir 2006(Balgir , 2008. This study indicates the possibility of mechanism(s) how selection operates against malaria when two mutations occur in the same geographical region.…”

Hematological profile of twenty-nine tribal compound cases of hemoglobinopathies and G-6-PD deficiency in rural Orissa

“…[7][8][9][10]12,14,15,17,26] The state of Orissa is hyper endemic for malaria and the high frequency of these disorders is related to selective advantage against malaria. [27] The present study reported 29 cases affl icted with double hereditary hemolytic disorders for the fi rst time in two tribal communities of Sundargarh district in northwestern Orissa. It was observed that the frequency of different hemoglobinopathies and G-6-PD deficiency was very high, being 9.8 and 17.0, and 13.3 and 24.9, respectively in the Bhuyan and Kharia tribal communities.…”

“…[27] When the frequency of sickle cell allele decreases in a cross-section of malaria endemic tribal population, the frequency of G-6-PD enzyme defi ciency and β-thalassemia allele increases and vice versa. The detrimental variant of sickle cell allele is being replaced by G-6-PD defi ciency allele because of mild clinical manifestations of enzyme defi ciency in comparison with crippling manifestations of sickle cell allele in Orissa.…”

“…In Sundargarh district alone in Orissa between 25-61 deaths due to malaria have been reported every year. [27] This means natural selection has played a major role in favor of sickle cell, β-thalassemia and G-6-PD mutational alleles so that they had probably evolved as a protective mechanism against the lethal effects of malaria in this part of the country. [27] …”