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en Association of Haptoglobin Heterozygosity (HP1-2) with the Risk of COVID-19 Infection in a Sample of the Iranian Population زیست شناسی ملکولی Molecular Biology مقالات اصلی Original Article <div style="text-align: justify;">Background: COVID-19 is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects the respiratory system and occasionally the gastrointestinal system, and it was declared a pandemic in 2020. Haptoglobin is an acute-phase protein and a potent antioxidant in the body, which exerts its antioxidant effect by binding to free hemoglobin. Haptoglobin has three main variants (Hp1-1, Hp1-2, Hp2-2), each with different antioxidant capacities. The purpose of this study is to investigate frequency of the haptoglobin variants in COVID-19 patients compared to a control group. Methods: This study was conducted on 148 COVID-19 patients and 145 healthy individuals from the Sistan and Baluchestan province. DNA was isolated from whole blood using the salt precipitation method, and the determination of haptoglobin genotypes (Hp1-1, Hp1-2, and Hp2-2) was performed using Conventional PCR. Results: This study analyzed haptoglobin (HP) genotypes in COVID-19 patients and controls, finding no significant difference in HP variant frequencies between groups (p= 0.529). However, the HP1-2 genotype was associated with a twofold increased COVID-19 risk in men (OR=2.069, p= 0.021), and the HP1 allele significantly raised infection risk (OR= 1.62, p= 0.039). Hospitalizations and respiratory symptoms were significantly higher in COVID-19 patients (p= 0.0001 and p= 0.0176, respectively). Conclusions: These results suggest that haptoglobin variants are not risk factors for COVID-19 infection in the overall population (both males and females). However, men with the HP1-2 genotype are 1.9 times more likely to develop COVID-19 infection compared to men with HP1-1 and HP 2-2 genotypes.</div> Acute phase proteins, SARS-CoV-2, Antioxidant activity, Haptoglobin protein 445 455 http://rbmb.net/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1686-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mehrdad behdani 100319475328460021423 100319475328460021423 No Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran. Tahereh Khalili : taherehkh2131@yahoo.com 100319475328460021424 100319475328460021424 Yes Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran & Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Research Institute of Cellular and Molecular Sciences in Infectious Diseases, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran. Ahmad Zarezadeh 100319475328460021425 100319475328460021425 No Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University Campus, Graduate School, University of Zabol, Islamic Republic of Iran. Zahra Mohammadghasemi 100319475328460021426 100319475328460021426 No Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran. Mozhdeh Khalili mozhde14715@gmail.com 100319475328460021427 100319475328460021427 No Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Shahid bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.