Highly significant values of Hp is observed in the MRM assay that show a correlation with severity of malaria and is clearly distinguished from another febrile disease, dengue.
This epistatic interaction together with varying frequencies of α(+)thalassemia across Africa may explain the inconsistent relationship between Hp genotype and malaria reported in previous studies.
Haptoglobin levels have been repeatedly associated with a variety of inflammation-linked infectious and non-infectious diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C, diabetes, carotid atherosclerosis, and acute myocardial infarction.
Children with the haptoglobin 2-2 genotype (17%) had a greater mean drop in Hb level over the malaria season (an 8.9 g/l drop; confidence interval [CI] 5.7, 12.1) compared to other children (a 5.1 g/l drop; CI 3.8, 6.4).
Long-term studies of 98 unselected adults from a rural African community in Mali where malaria is endemic showed that the haptoglobin level of the blood increased significantly after 1 year of continuous anti-malarial treatment.