G6PD and diabetes mellitus: In addition, our observations suggest an indirect role for G6PD status on the capacity to metabolize fatty acids in high-oxygen-demand organs (e.g., brain, heart, liver), making this model potentially useful for the study of how G6PD deficiency may affect other disorders that have been associated with G6PD deficiency in humans, including kidney disease and diabetes (7), pulmonary arterial hypertension (9), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington disease, Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease (8), and multiple sclerosis (39).