Final answer:
Individuals with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency must avoid certain medications such as some antibiotics, antimalarials, NSAIDs, and also foods like broad beans, to prevent hemolytic anemia. This deficiency reduces the ability of red blood cells to combat oxidative stress, potentially leading to anemia and jaundice. G6PD mutations may confer a protective effect against malaria in endemic regions.
Step-by-step explanation:
Patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, a genetic disorder affecting red blood cells, must be careful to avoid certain medications that can precipitate hemolytic anemia by inducing oxidative stress. Medications known to cause such reactions in G6PD-deficient individuals include certain antibiotics such as sulfonamides and quinolones, antimalarials like primaquine and chloroquine, and several others such as aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and certain antipyretics. Broad beans, due to their high levels of oxidants, can also induce hemolysis and must be avoided.
This deficiency impairs the pentose phosphate pathway, leading to reduced levels of NADPH and consequently glutathione, which protects red blood cells from oxidative damage. The reduced protection can result in the premature breakdown of red blood cells, leading to anemia, jaundice, and in severe cases, acute hemolytic crises.
G6PD is also involved in the cellular response to malarial infection, making individuals homozygous for this gene less susceptible to malaria. Therefore, mutations in the G6PD gene offer a selective advantage in malaria-endemic regions, despite the potential for hemolytic anemia caused by oxidative stressors.