Distribution of alpha 1-antitrypsin variants in a US white population

A white population from the State of Minnesota of primarily German and Scandinavian heritage was subtyped for alpha 1-antitrypsin variants using isoelectric focusing. The frequencies of the genes PI*M1 (0.724), PI*M2 (0.137) and PI*M3 (0.095) were consistent with those for white populations documented in the literature from Northern Europe. Other genes identified in the study were PI*F, PI*I, PI*P, PI*S and PI*Z.