In our research we examined the contribution of putative genetic sources on interindividual variation and cross-sectional correlations of several adhesion molecules, including intracellular (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecules (VCAM-1) and E-selectin, in a population-based sample of ethnically homogeneous families of European origin. The plasma levels of these molecules were measured in 947 apparently healthy individuals from 217 nuclear families. Quantitative statistical-genetic analysis implementing the model fitting technique revealed significant parent/offspring and sibling correlations (p < 0.01) for all three molecules. The putative genetic effects explained 55.2 +/- 7.2% (VCAM-1), 63.3 +/- 7.5% (ICAM) and 63.8 +/- 8.1% (E-selectin) of the variation. Common family environmental factors also significantly influenced the variation of E-selectin (13%) and VCAM-1 (28.6%). The main results of our bivariate analysis showed that the observed phenotypic correlations between ICAM-1 and VCAM-1, and between ICAM-1 and E-selectin, were mostly attributable to shared environmental factors (r(E)= 0.896 and 0.737, respectively; p < 0.01). However, the correlation between VCAM-1 and E-selectin was likely caused by common genetic effects (r(G)= 0.334, p < 0.05). Our results show that familial clustering of adhesion molecules is likely due to strong genetic effects, supplemented with shared environmental factors.