Haptoglobin Test Price in Pakistan: Rs 1,260 at Marham Lab

A haptoglobin blood test measures the level of haptoglobin in your blood. MedlinePlus explains that haptoglobin is a protein produced by the liver which attaches to haemoglobin in the blood, and that haemoglobin is the blood cell protein that carries oxygen. At Marham Lab the test costs Rs 1,260, reduced from Rs 1,800.

This is simpler than most people expect, and it explains why a low result is the worrying one.

MedlinePlus states the test is done to see how fast your red blood cells are destroyed, and that it may be done if your provider suspects you have a type of anaemia caused by your immune system.

It then gives the mechanism: when red blood cells are actively being destroyed, haptoglobin disappears faster than it is created. As a result, the level of haptoglobin in your blood drops.

So haptoglobin behaves like a stock that gets used up. Red cells breaking apart release haemoglobin, haptoglobin binds it, and the supply runs down. A low haptoglobin is therefore evidence that red cells are being destroyed somewhere.

Haemolysis is rarely worked up with one test. Haptoglobin falls, LDH rises, indirect bilirubin rises, and the reticulocyte count rises as the marrow replaces losses. A doctor reads the pattern.

MedlinePlus gives the normal range as 41 to 165 milligrams per decilitre, or 410 to 1,650 milligrams per litre. It adds that normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories, that some labs use different measurements or test different samples, and that you should talk with your provider about the meaning of your specific results.

Read your own report against the range printed on it, not against a number from the internet.

MedlinePlus lists these causes of lower than normal levels.

• Immune haemolytic anaemia
• Long term, meaning chronic, liver disease
• Blood building up under the skin or in other tissues such as muscles, which is called a haematoma
• Liver disease
• Transfusion reaction

Two of those are worth separating. In haemolysis, haptoglobin is being consumed. In liver disease, the liver is making less of it in the first place, since MedlinePlus notes the liver produces it. Both give a low number for different reasons, which is why liver tests usually accompany this one. See our [liver function test page](/labs/tests/lft-test-price).

MedlinePlus is specific here, and this part is easy to get wrong.

Medicines that can raise haptoglobin levels: androgens and corticosteroids.

Medicines that can lower haptoglobin levels: birth control pills, chlorpromazine, diphenhydramine, indomethacin, isoniazid, nitrofurantoin, quinidine, streptomycin.

Two of those matter a great deal in Pakistan. Isoniazid is a core tuberculosis drug, and nitrofurantoin is widely used for urinary infections. If you are on either, your doctor needs to know before reading this result.

MedlinePlus states your provider will tell you if you need to stop taking any medicine, and that you should not stop any medicine before talking to your provider.