The Prevalence of Proinsulin-Specific Antibodies in Diabetic Patients

Abstract

To establish the prevalence of proinsulin-specific antibodies in diabetic patients, thirty serum samples were analyzed.

Among the insulin-treated group, proinsulin antibodies were demonstrated in 20 cases (80%) by the significant binding of ¹²⁵I-bovine proinsulin to the sera pretreated with excess of insulin and reduced binding when these sera were preincubated with unlabelled bovine proinsulin. Five other sera (20%) bound tracer proinsulin, but did not bind significantly after preincubation with insulin indicating that only cross-reacting insulin antibodies were present and there were no detectable proinsulin antibodies. Sera from five diet-controlled patients had no antibodies.

Key words

Proinsulin-Specific Antibodies - Insulin Antibodies