Elevated plasma fibrinogen levels represent an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, but the mechanism explaining this association is still not clear. Genetic differences may play a role, because it has been shown that individuals who carry the rare alleles of polymorphisms in the genes for the B beta-chain (Bcl I and G/A-455) and the A alpha-chain (Taq I) of fibrinogen have higher plasma fibrinogen levels and that patients with peripheral arterial disease have a higher frequency of the rare allele of the Bcl I polymorphism than do healthy control subjects. We studied the Greenland Inuit, a population with a low incidence of ischemic heart disease; polymorphisms of the fibrinogen gene; and their association with plasma fibrinogen level. The group studied had a small age range (30 to 34 years), 97% were smokers, 62 were men, and 71 were women. We observed that in the Inuit, frequencies of the rare alleles of the beta gene and of the common alleles of the alpha gene polymorphisms were lower than those published for other populations (all Caucasian). Accordingly, in the Inuit, these distribution patterns give a higher frequency of alleles that are associated with lower plasma fibrinogen levels. We further observed comparable linkage disequilibrium between alpha and beta gene polymorphisms in Caucasian populations. In Inuit men the rare allele of the Bcl I and G/A-455 fibrinogen polymorphisms was associated with plasma fibrinogen level comparable with the association described in Caucasian populations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)