[Inherited and familial bisalbuminemia. Acquired transient bisalbuminemia (author's transl)].

The present study is a survey of the different types of bisalbuminemia. In the inherited and familial form, the anomaly is fortuitously discovered and not associated with disease. The abnormal albumin fraction only differs from the normal one in a slight alteration in the aminoacid sequence, responsible for increased ("fast type") or decreased ("slow type") electrophoretic mobility. The anomaly is genetically determined and is transmitted as an autosomal codominant character. The condition is relatively rare, but has been observed in most parts of the world, with some higher incidence in many American Indian tribes. In the acquired transient biaslbuminemia, the abnormal component of the albumin is always of the fast type and occurs in patients either receiving large amounts of beta-lactamine type antibiotics, or suffering from pancreas diseases.