Structure-function analysis of the antioxidant properties of haptoglobin

Haptoglobin serves as an antioxidant by virtue of its ability to prevent hemoglobin-driven oxidative tissue damage. It was recently demonstrated that an allelic polymorphism in the haptoglobin gene is predictive of the risk for numerous microvascular and macrovascular diabetic complications. Because these complications are attributed in large part to an increase in oxidative stress, a study was conducted to determine whether the different protein products of the 2 haptoglobin alleles differed in the antioxidant protection they provided. A statistically significant difference was found in the antioxidant capacity of purified haptoglobin protein produced from the 2 different alleles, consistent with the hypothesis that differences in genetically determined antioxidant status may explain differential susceptibility to diabetic vascular complications. These differences may be amplified in the vessel wall because of differences in the sieving capacity of the haptoglobin types. Therefore, an attempt was made to identify the minimal haptoglobin sequences necessary to inhibit oxidation by hemoglobin in vitro, and 2 independent haptoglobin peptides that function in this fashion as efficiently as native haptoglobin were identified. Identification of the biochemical basis for differences among haptoglobin types may lead to the rational development of new pharmacologic agents, such as the mini-haptoglobin described here, to avert the development of diabetic vascular complications.