title: The biochemistry and pathophysiology of the prethrombotic state.
abstract: Several natural anticoagulant mechanisms oppose the procoagulant actions of the blood clotting cascade. Detailed biochemical analysis of some of these pathways have allowed us to develop an understanding of how the blood coagulation mechanism is normally regulated and to establish assays for evaluating the in vivo activity of these biological mechanisms. Clinical investigations of relatively simple inherited thrombophilic states have uncovered the regulatory defects that lead to overt thrombotic disorders and have also provided a new definition of the prethrombotic state that may have relevance to more complex multifactorial vascular disorders.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001777:Blood Coagulation; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000097:blood*; D013997:Time Factors