Preliminary Data Suggesting a Possible Influence of the Mother’s Genotype on Foetal Haptoglobin Synthesis

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Abstract
The incidence of cord blood plasma with a detectable hapto-globin pattern has been found to vary considerably in the different haptoglobin types of mating, suggesting the possible influence of the mother''s genotype on the fetal haptoglobin synthesis. Thus, the lowest incidence (4.3%) was found among the "incompatible matings", i. e. when the baby must necessarily possess a molecular haptoglobin species not produced by the mother, and the maximum incidence (23.8%) among the fully compatible matings, i. e. those involving a 2.1 mother or parents with identical haptoglobin genotype. Passive transfer of haptoglobins from the maternal to the fetal circulation is excluded on the ground that the detectability of haptoglobins at birth is not positively correlated with the haptoglobin concentration of maternal plasma and also because of the frequent occurrence of cord blood plasma with a haptoglobin pattern unlike that of the mother. Extensive data on the quantitative haptoglobin levels of the cord blood plasma with or without a detectable haptoglobin pattern, of the blood plasma from the mothers at the end of the gestation period and of those from the fathers and from normal controls, are also reported and discussed.