Plasma Antihæmophilic-Factor Concentrations in the Australian Aborigine and in Conditions associated with Hyperglobulinæmia

Abstract

WHILE studying the plasma antihæmophilic-factor concentrations of a large number of healthy individuals, it was noted that Australian aborigines in general have higher plasma concentrations of this factor than the white Australian population. The factor was estimated by a technique¹ based on the thromboplastin generation test and results were expressed as a percentage of the concentration in a standard normal plasma. The lower histogram in Fig. 1 shows the plasma concentrations in 86 healthy white adults adjusted to the nearest 10 per cent. The values are skewed with a fairly sharply defined lower limit and range from 60 to 200 per cent of standard normal. This group comprised equal numbers of males and females, and there was no significant sex difference in the values. These normal results are very similar to those found in a previous group of 80 normal white adults reported on from this laboratory².