Prothrombin: Another Clotting Factor After FV That Is Involved Both in Bleeding and Thrombosis

Clotting factor defects are usually associated with bleeding. About 2 decades ago, 2 polymorphisms, one of FII (G20210A) and another of FV (Arg506Gln), have been shown to be associated with prothrombotic state and venous thrombosis. As a consequence, FII and FV could be considered both as prohemorrhagic factors and prothrombotic conditions. Recently, it has been shown that missense mutations in the prothrombin gene of amino acid Arg596 of exon 14 to Leu596, Gln596, or Trp596 caused the appearance of a thrombophilic state and venous thrombosis. These mutated FII are not associated with bleeding, but only with venous thrombosis. Furthermore, they are all heterozygotes for the mutations. No missense mutation associated with thrombosis has been discovered so far for FV. As a consequence, the prothrombotic activity of FII is the result of a polymorphism and of a missense mutation, whereas that of FV derives only from a polymorphism. The observation that a clotting factor defect may be associated with both bleeding or venous thrombosis depending on the site of the mutation has caused an extensive reevaluation of the blood clotting mechanism.