Ahaptoglobinaemia in a Nigerian Cohort

Ahaptoglobinaemia have been indicated in blacks from West Africa. Owing to the clinical and biologicimportance of haptoglobin (hpt), this work explores the situation in a Nigerian cohort since there are no published values ofhaptoglobin levels of individuals in this locality. The study was aimed at determining the amount of haptoglobin in the bloodof normal healthy Nigerians. Haptoglobin was quantitatively estimated in one hundred and fifty-two apparently healthyindividuals using highly sensitive immunoassay technology. Blood grouping and haemoglobin genotype were assayed forall subjects to know if they influence haptoglobin levels. The association between haptoglobin and blood group was alsoestablished. Serum levels of haptoglobin among all subjects analyzed revealed a marked decrease in their haptoglobin levelswhen compared to other reference intervals. A further association between haptoglobin and gender did not reveal a statisticalsignificant relationship (p>0.05). However, there was a significant different when haptoglobin levels of different bloodgroups and haemoglobin genotype when compared. Our data suggest that serum levels of haptoglobin are significantly lowerin healthy Nigerians. The lower limit was remarkably lower than the internationally acceptable Caucasian reference rangesuggesting a clear necessity for establishing reference African values.