Inopportune coagulation of blood in vessels is prevented by defense mechanisms, in which plasma inhibitors play an important role. The inhibitors are glycoproteins and belong to two different groups, according to their mechanism of action. The first group consists of the inhibitors of serine proteases, which form inactive complexes with various coagulation enzymes; it includes antithrombin III, heparin cofactor II, alpha 2-macroglobulin, alpha 1-antitrypsin and C1S-inhibitor. The second group includes protein C and its cofactor, protein S. Protein C, activated by thrombin complexed with a protein cofactor present on the endothelial cell surface (thrombomodulin), is responsible for the proteolytic degradation of two coagulation cofactors (Va and VIII: Ca). The clinical importance of both antithrombin III, protein C and protein S is attested by the strong association between recurrent venous thromboembolic manifestations and inherited deficiencies of one or the other of these proteins.