The serpins C1 esterase inhibitor (C1Inh), antithrombin (AT), alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1AT) and alpha 2-antiplasmin (alpha 2AP) are known inhibitors of coagulation factor XIa (FXIa). Although initial studies suggested alpha 1AT to be the main inhibitor of FXIa, we recently demonstrated C1Inh to be a predominant inhibitor of FXIa in vitro in human plasma. The present study was performed to investigate the plasma elimination kinetics of preformed human FXIa-FXIa inhibitor complexes injected in rats. The amounts of complexes remaining in circulation were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The plasma half-life time of clearance (t1/2) was 98 min for FXIa-alpha 1AT complexes, whereas it was considerably shorter, i.e. 19, 18 and 15 min for FXIa-C1Inh, FXIa-alpha 2AP and FXIa-AT complexes, respectively. Thus, due to this different plasma t1/2, preferentially FXIa-alpha 1AT complexes may be detected in clinical samples. Furthermore, measuring FXIa-FXIa inhibitor complexes in patient samples may not help to clarify the relative contribution of the individual serpins to inactivation of FXIa in vivo.