L. Sansoresgarcia et al., REFERENCE VALUES OF PROTEIN-C ACTIVITY IN HEALTHY ADULT SUBJECTS IN MEXICO, Revista de Investigacion Clinica, 46(3), 1994, pp. 231-235
Protein C (pC) is a natural-occurring anticoagulant and its acquired o
r hereditary deficiency has been associated with thrombosis. For its s
creening, technics that appraise both its plasmatic concentration and
biological activity are used. The quantitative deficiency is important
, but some characteristics of pC activity (pCA) suggest an essential r
ole of the functional deficiency. Because reference levels have not be
en previously described in Mexico, we report here the results of a pCA
assessed by a chromogenic assay in 88 adult healthy mexican people be
tween 15 and 69 years of age. The pCA values at the 2.5 and 97.5% perc
entils in our population were 75 and 137% in normal plasma. Functional
disorders of this protein have been described in the presence of norm
al pC quantitative levels and, therefore, there are individuals with l
ow pC concentrations and a normal pCA without thrombosis. These data s
uggest that the pCA could be a more important screening test than the
quantitative determination as the first step in the study of a possibl
e deficiency state of protein C.