The influence of insulin antibody levels on the plasma profiles and action of subcutaneously injected human and bovine short acting insulins.

The influence of moderate and low insulin antibody levels on insulin absorption and plasma free insulin profiles is uncertain. Two groups of six C-peptide negative diabetic patients, one with low (3.8 +/- 0.8 mu/l) and one with moderate (16.4 +/- 2.0 micrograms/l) serum insulin antibody levels, were studied. Subjects were given 0.3 U/kg neutral human or acid bovine soluble insulin subcutaneously in random order before breakfast on separate days. Moderate antibody levels significantly blunted the rise in plasma free insulin that followed injection of the human and bovine insulins (p less than 0.05). The rise in blood glucose after breakfast was significantly greater in patients with moderate antibody levels (p less than 0.05) and more marked following the bovine than the human insulin (p less than 0.05). Plasma free insulin, blood glucose and 3-hydroxybutyrate profiles suggest that acid bovine soluble insulin has a significantly more protracted action than neutral human insulin.