Insulin Antibodies
Almost all diabetic patients receiving exogenous animal insulin develop serum antibodies. Eventually patients may need larger insulin doses to achieve the same degree of glycemic control. Some patients with autoimmune disorders may develop autoantibodies to insulin, leading to postprandial hyperglycemia and fasting hypoglycemia. Detection of insulin antibodies may be helpful in determining the cause of insulin resistance in patients with diabetes or autoimmune disease. It is also useful in the diagnosis of some cases of insulinoma (see insulin).
Reference value is <3% binding of labeled human, beef, and pork insulin.
Specimen requirement is one SST tube of blood.
