Adaptation to Malaria: The Interaction of Biology and Culture

Distribution data, population studies and in vitro investigations all clearly indicate that glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is associated with human population adaptation to falciparum malaria. This volume brings together a distinguished group of investigators from several disciplines to discuss the biochemical mechanisms underlying this genetically based protection, providing detailed coverage of how dietary factors and traditional medicines interact with the G6PD locus to maximize antimalarial adaptation in human populations.
This book also presents recent data that demonstrates the relative protection of G6PD deficient genotypes against severe falciparum malaria and reviews the epidemiology of favism, neonatal jaundice and other negative consequences of the G6PD deficient condition. A final focus of this edited volume is on the micromapping of G6PD deficient allele frequencies in Sardinia and southern Italy and its relationship to past malarial history as an extension and re-evaluation of the classic studies done in this region.