Factors influencing hypohaptoglobinaemia in newborn in India

An attempt is made to enumerate the effects of some factors on hypohaptoglobinaemia in a sample of 389 infants (along with their mothers) who were classified electrophoretically for haptoglobins (Hp). 85 . 5% of infants were Hp 0-0. There was no direct effect of birth-weight on the frequency of Hp 0-0 but there was a significant interaction between maternal haptoglobin type and birth-weight of newborn, showing an excess of 2-2 among mothers of low birth-weight babies, who were mostly Hp 0-0. Some trend towards reduced Hp 0-0 frequency among premature babies was discernible. There was a significant effect of parity on the frequency of detectable haptoglobin patterns among low birth-weight infants. An increase in the frequency of haptoglobin pattern was observed with increase in parity and birth-weight. The distributions of detectable haptoglobin patterns among newborn and mothers were similar. ABO incompatibility, sex, economic status and caste variation did not show any effects on the frequency of Hp 0-0.