Antithrombin III deficiency
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Antithrombin III deficiency
Hematological system
Anemias
Autoimmune hemolytic anemia
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency
Hemolytic disease of the newborn
Hereditary spherocytosis
Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
Pyruvate kinase deficiency
Sickle cell disease (NORD)
Fanconi anemia
Folate (Vitamin B9) deficiency
Megaloblastic anemia
Vitamin B12 deficiency
Alpha-thalassemia
Anemia of chronic disease
Beta-thalassemia
Iron deficiency anemia
Lead poisoning
Sideroblastic anemia
Anemia of chronic disease
Aplastic anemia
Diamond-Blackfan anemia
Fanconi anemia
Dysplastic and proliferative disorders
Langerhans cell histiocytosis
Mastocytosis (NORD)
Essential thrombocythemia (NORD)
Myelodysplastic syndromes
Myelofibrosis (NORD)
Polycythemia vera (NORD)
Leukemoid reaction
Leukemoid reaction
Mixed platelet and coagulation disorders
Disseminated intravascular coagulation
Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia
Von Willebrand disease
Thrombosis syndromes (hypercoagulability)
Antiphospholipid syndrome
Antithrombin III deficiency
Factor V Leiden
Protein C deficiency
Protein S deficiency
Hematological system pathology review
Coagulation disorders: Pathology review
Extrinsic hemolytic normocytic anemia: Pathology review
Heme synthesis disorders: Pathology review
Intrinsic hemolytic normocytic anemia: Pathology review
Leukemias: Pathology review
Lymphomas: Pathology review
Macrocytic anemia: Pathology review
Microcytic anemia: Pathology review
Mixed platelet and coagulation disorders: Pathology review
Myeloproliferative disorders: Pathology review
Non-hemolytic normocytic anemia: Pathology review
Plasma cell disorders: Pathology review
Platelet disorders: Pathology review
Thrombosis syndromes (hypercoagulability): Pathology review
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Antithrombin III deficiency
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Transcript
Antithrombin III is an anticoagulant protein which is made by the liver. So antithrombin III deficiency is when a genetic mutation makes antithrombin III either deficient or defective. This causes excessive clot formation, and the clots can get lodged in small vessels that nourish different organs and tissues, causing strokes.
Antithrombin III deficiency presents as a hemostasis disorder. Hemostasis is the process where blood flow is stopped after there’s damage to a blood vessel, and it has two steps. Primary hemostasis involves the formation of a platelet plug at the site of injury, and secondary hemostasis involves the coagulation cascade, where several clotting factors come into play to form a fibrin mesh over the platelet plug to reinforce it - forming a blood clot.
Hemostasis can be both stimulated, and inhibited by several factors. In the first category, there’s thrombin, or factor II, which accelerates hemostasis by increasing platelet activation, and cleaving several factors involved in secondary hemostasis to their active form.
On the other hand, the most important factor that inhibits hemostasis is antithrombin III. Antithrombin III binds excess thrombin and factor X from secondary hemostasis, and also inhibits coagulation factors VII, IX, XI and XII - which are also key players in secondary hemostasis.
So, antithrombin helps regulate clot formation, preventing clots from growing too large and blocking blood flow to tissues supplied by the vessel. It also prevents clots from getting so big that small parts of the growing clot break off in the form of emboli. Finally, the anticoagulant properties of antithrombin III can also be enhanced by an anticoagulant medication called heparin - which binds to antithrombin and increases its affinity for its target proteins. So, the two major consequences of antithrombin III deficiency are increased risk of thrombosis and insensitivity to heparin.
Sources
- "Anticoagulation During Pregnancy" Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2016)
- "Robbins Basic Pathology" Elsevier (2017)
- "Pathophysiology of Disease: An Introduction to Clinical Medicine 8E" McGraw-Hill Education / Medical (2018)
- "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine" McGraw-Hill Medical Publishing (2004)
- "Laboratory tests for antithrombin deficiency" American Journal of Hematology (2010)
- "Issues in the Diagnosis and Management of Hereditary Antithrombin Deficiency" Annals of Pharmacotherapy (2016)
- "Inherited antithrombin deficiency: a review" Haemophilia (2008)
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