What is the purpose of antithrombin?
Understand the Problem
The question asks about the purpose of antithrombin. Antithrombin is a protein in the blood that inhibits blood clot formation by inactivating several clotting factors.
Answer
Antithrombin regulates blood clot formation, preventing excessive clotting.
Antithrombin is a protein that helps regulate blood clot formation. It acts as a natural anticoagulant by inhibiting several enzymes in the coagulation cascade, preventing excessive clotting.
Answer for screen readers
Antithrombin is a protein that helps regulate blood clot formation. It acts as a natural anticoagulant by inhibiting several enzymes in the coagulation cascade, preventing excessive clotting.
More Information
Antithrombin is produced by the liver. Antithrombin deficiency can lead to an increased risk of developing abnormal blood clots.
Tips
It's easy to confuse antithrombin with other anticoagulants like heparin or warfarin. Antithrombin is a naturally occurring protein, while others are medications that enhance antithrombin activity (heparin) or interfere with the production of clotting factors (warfarin).
Sources
- Antithrombin - Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org
- Antithrombin - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics - sciencedirect.com
- Antithrombin - Testing.com - testing.com
AI-generated content may contain errors. Please verify critical information
