Antiphospholipid antibodies and the protein C pathway

作者：Urbanus R T; de Laat B^*

来源：Lupus, 2010, 19(4): 394-399.

DOI：10.1177/0961203309360841

• activated protein C
• antiphospholipid antibodies
• antiphospholipid syndrome
• beta2-glycoprotein I

Haemostasis is a delicate balance between procoagulant and anticoagulant processes. In the human body usually anticoagulant mechanisms prevail over procoagulant mechanisms, thereby preventing a prothrombotic state. The antiphospholipid syndrome is an example in which this balance is shifted to a more prothrombotic state due to the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. One of the most extensively proposed pathogenic mechanisms within the antiphospholipid syndrome is the inhibition of protein C by antiphospholipid antibodies. Antiphospholipid antibodies have been described to have different actions on the protein C pathway, for example decreasing protein C and/or S plasma levels, inducing increased resistance against activated protein C and lowering thrombin levels (resulting in an impaired protein C activation). This review briefly discusses the actions of protein C in human body but mainly focuses on the effects of antiphospholipid antibodies on the protein C pathway that have been described in literature. Lupus (2010) 19, 394-399.

• 出版日期2010-4