HAPTOGLOBIN — THE BIOMARKER FOR HAEMOLYTIC ANAEMIA
Haptoglobin is a protein produced by the liver that the body uses to clear free hemoglobin (found outside RBCs) from circulation. It’s an iron-containing protein complex that transports oxygen throughout the body. It functions to bind the free plasma hemoglobin, which allows degradative enzymes to gain access to the hemoglobin, at the same time preventing loss of iron through the kidneys & protecting the kidneys from damage by hemoglobin. Haptoglobin-hemoglobin complex is quickly cleared from the bloodstream & removed from the body by your liver.
Haptoglobin normal range in serum is 32–205 mg/dL. If your levels are lower, it means you may have haemolytic anemia, in which your RBCs are prematurely destroyed. An undetectable level is almost always due to haemolytic anemia. Autoimmune haemolytic anemia where RBCs are breaking apart or being destroyed prematurely. A condition is considered idiopathic when its cause is unknown. Such chronic intravascular haemolysis causes persistently low haptoglobin concentration.
Decreased levels of haptoglobin are also found in sickle cell anemia & thalassemia, liver disease, congenital deficiencies, acute malaria, severe liver disorder. Haemolytic anemia is a disorder that happens when your RBCs are destroyed faster than they can be replaced.
Besides, regular strenuous exercise may cause sustained low haptoglobin, presumably from low-grade haemolysis.
Elevated haptoglobin levels are seen in diseases associated with elevated ESR such as infection, trauma, hepatitis, amyloidosis, collagen diseases, coronary diseases, TB, Hodgkin’s disease, nephritic syndrome, lymphoma & leukaemia, obstructive or biliary diseases as well as prolonged steroid use.
Clinicians will ask for the test when you have symptoms like pale skin, cold hands & feet, jaundice, or yellowing of the skin & whites of the eyes, upper abdominal pain, dizziness, light headedness, shortness of breath, or abnormal heartbeat etc.
Jaundice occurs as a result of high bilirubin, the yellow pigment that forms when RBCs are broken down & eliminated from the body. When RBCs are destroyed at an increased rate, it can lead to a build-up of bilirubin in the blood, causing skin or eyes to appear yellow. Higher levels of bilirubin can also indicate gallstones, the hard deposits formed in the gallbladder obstructing the bile ducts.
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