Subcutaneous aprotinin causes local hyperaemia. A possible mechanism by which aprotinin improves control in some diabetic patients.

Local changes in blood flow at the subcutaneous injection site of the proteinase inhibitor aprotinin and its diluent were measured by photoelectric plethysmography. Aprotinin, but not its diluent, caused local hyperaemia in five normal subjects and in five stable and five brittle insulin-dependent diabetic patients, local blood flow increasing by 80%-180%. The duration of the hyperaemic response was shorter in the brittle diabetic patients than in the other two groups, but there was wide individual variation. Aprotinin is known to enhance subcutaneous insulin absorption in normal subjects and in some brittle diabetic patients. The basis for this might be through increasing blood flow near the injection site rather than by inhibition of insulin breakdown.