Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

More on the clotting cascade:

>Even this simplified version seems quite complicated for many of us.<

It is a complicated system and this is a necessary design feature for survival. The complexity is what assures that routine localized bleeds are stopped and do not result in systemic coagulation (DIC).

Let’s look at the diagram again paying attention to the color coding:



The clotting cascade begins with an injury and it has two branches as depicted. Items shown in blue are inactivated clotting factors; they are constantly circulating throughout the body but have no effect on clotting until they are activated. By being in constant circulation, they are able to respond to an injury in the body at any time, wherever it may occur.

An inactivated clotting factor in blue is converted to an activated clotting factor, shown in orange, via a reaction with either a prior activated factor in the cascade or a cofactor, shown in green. Thus, the clotting cascade is a tightly controlled sequence of biochemical reactions; if even one element in the cascade is missing, the system may fail to produce a clot. Under normal circumstances, this assures that clotting is restricted to the site of the injury.