Alloalbuminemia in southwestern U.S. indians: polymorphism of albumin Naskapi and albumin Mexico.

Genetic variation in the electrophoretic mobility of serum albumin was studied in a sample of 951 southwestern American Indians. The albumin Naskapi allele occurred in polymorphic frequencies among the Athabascan-speaking Navajo and Apache and in smaller samples of Hopi, Maricopa and Mojave. Albumin Mexico occurred among the Pima, Papago and Apache, as well as, in reduced frequency, among the Navajo. The existence of the two polymorphic forms of serum albumin so far described in this single geographic area emphasizes the importance of the southwest as an area for future studies of selection, flow and drift of the alleles involved.