Investigation of Ahaptoglobinemia and its Association with Malaria Endemicity in South of Iran

Abstract

Ahaptoglobinemia is a common phenomenon in tropical countries,where it is probably due to malaria-induced haemolysis. Previous studies have suggested that ahaptoglobinemia is more useful than the other parasite detection indexes to estimate the endemicity of malaria. The present study shows the relationship between malaria and haptoglobin, as a genetic marker in Balouch population of Sistan & Baluchistan provience, the highly malaria endemic area in southeast of Iran. Using starch gel electrophoresis, the results showed 20.2% ahaptoglobinemia in patients (n=203) and 3% in controls (n=197). Statistical analysis showed significant association between ahaptoglobinemia and malaria (P<0.001).Therefor, the frequency of ahaptoglobinemia may be more than the frequencies obtained from blood smear studies (1.9%) in malariuos patients.