Objective: To explore the change of G6PD activity in children with acute leukemia（AL）and its correlation with the clinical characteristics.
Methods: The G6PD activity in peripheral blood samples from 74 children disagnosed as AL (50 cases of ALL, and 24 cases of AML) was detected by Zinkham method recommended by WHO in 1967, and its relevance with clinical indicators was statistically analyzed. The peripheral blood samples of 70 healthy children were used as the controls.
Results: The G6PD activity in ALL and AML groups was significantly lower than that in the control group (P=0.000, P=0.000) and there was no statistical difference between ALL and AML groups. The G6PD activity in bacterial, fungal infection and non-infection groups (no bacterial and fungal infection) were statistically different from control group (P=0.02, P=0.001, P=0.001), respectively. The G6PD activity in bacterial infection group and non-infection group was statistically different from with fungal infection group (P=0.004, P=0.019), respectively. The G6PD activity linearly correlated with leukocyte count and neutrophil percentage in AL children (P=0.000, P=0.001, r=0.465, r=0.434), respectively. The median survival time of G6PD activity deficiency group was higher than that in the normal group, but without statistically significant difference (P=0.4149).
Conclusion: The G6PD activity in AL children is significantly lower than that in healthy children, and the G6PD activity linearly relates with leukocyte count and neutrophil percentage of AL children. The patients with G6PD activity deficiency is more susceptible to fungal infection, moreover the infection is more serious.