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Glite Dictionary
🩸 A blood protein 🧬 A blood gene
prothrombin

prothrombin

1 8.3
A protein in blood that helps form clots to stop bleeding
  • noun
  • /proʊˈθrɑːmbɪn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : protrombina
  • After surgery, it's critical to assess the patient's prothrombin time to ensure proper blood clotting.
  • prothrombin time

Examples

  • The patient's prothrombin level was found to be unusually low, indicating potential bleeding disorders.

  • It says serum prothrombin conversion, blood type O.

    Edison (2005)

  • Laboratory studies revealed increased prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin times, as well as a significant metabolic acidosis on the arterial blood gas.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Factor Ha (thrombin) turns fibrinogen into fibrin, and factor Xa turns prothrombin into thrombin.

    Academic text (2015)

  • Doctors often check the prothrombin levels in patients to monitor their blood clotting ability.

Synonyms

factor II
vsprothrombin
  • Specialized
7.2

A protein in blood that changes into thrombin to help blood clot

is the alternative biochemical name used for the same plasma protein

Compounds

prothrombin accelerator
  • Specialized
7.5

A substance that helps blood clot by turning a blood protein into a clotting chemical

Surface Forms

prothrombin singular
prothrombins plural

Morphology

prothrombin = thrombin (semi-transparent) = pro + thrombin

Formally 'pro-' + 'thrombin' indicates an inactive precursor, but the meaning is specialized biochemical vocabulary that may not be obvious to general learners.

Etymology

Prothrombin is made of pro- 'before' and thrombin from a Greek word meaning 'clot', so the name literally means 'before clot'. That fits its role: it is an inactive blood protein that must change into thrombin to help form a blood clot.