Activated protein C–protein C inhibitor (APC-PCI) is a complex of

activated protein C Protein C, also known as autoprothrombin IIA and blood coagulation factor XIX, is a zymogen, that is, an inactive enzyme. The activated form plays an important role in regulating anticoagulation, inflammation, and cell death and maintaining ...

(APC) and

protein C inhibitor Protein C inhibitor (PCI, SERPINA5) is a serine protease inhibitor (serpin) that limits the activity of protein C (an anticoagulant). An N-terminal fragment of PCI is a possible serum biomarker for prostate cancer. Protein C inhibitor is activate ...

(PCI). It has been measured in

coagulation testing Blood clotting tests are the tests used for diagnostics of the hemostasis system. Coagulometer is the medical laboratory analyzer used for testing of the hemostasis system. Modern coagulometers realize different methods of activation and observatio ...

to evaluate

coagulation Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a blood clot. It potentially results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The mechanism o ...

thrombosis Thrombosis (from Ancient Greek "clotting") is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel (a vein or an artery) is injured, the body uses platelets (thro ...

, and other

cardiovascular complication Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina pectoris, angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs in ...

s. It is a marker of

thrombin generation Thrombin (, ''fibrinogenase'', ''thrombase'', ''thrombofort'', ''topical'', ''thrombin-C'', ''tropostasin'', ''activated blood-coagulation factor II'', ''blood-coagulation factor IIa'', ''factor IIa'', ''E thrombin'', ''beta-thrombin'', ''gamma- ...

and indicates

hypercoagulability Thrombophilia (sometimes called hypercoagulability or a prothrombotic state) is an abnormality of blood coagulation that increases the risk of thrombosis (blood clots in blood vessels). Such abnormalities can be identified in 50% of people who ...

. The

half-life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable ato ...

of APC-PCI is either 40 minutes or 140minutes.

Ethinylestradiol Ethinylestradiol (EE) is an estrogen medication which is used widely in birth control pills in combination with progestins. In the past, EE was widely used for various indications such as the treatment of menopausal symptoms, gynecological disord ...

-containing

birth control pill The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be taken orally by women. The pill contains two important hormones: progest ...

s have been found to increase levels of APC-PCI to a similar degree as

thrombin–antithrombin complex Thrombin–antithrombin complex (TAT) is a protein complex of thrombin and antithrombin. It is a marker of net activation of coagulation. Formation and elimination TAT is formed in response to the high thrombin level caused by coagulation followi ...

(TAT) and to a greater extent than

D-dimer D-dimer (or D dimer) is a fibrin degradation product (or FDP), a small protein fragment present in the blood after a blood clot is degraded by fibrinolysis. It is so named because it contains two D fragments of the fibrin protein joined by a cross ...

. However, only APC-PCI was able to differentiate between a second- and third-generation birth control pill. Another complex related to APC-PCI is the activated protein C–α₁-antitrypsin (APCAT) complex.

References

Coagulation system Protein complexes {{Hematology-stub