Insulin--binding antibodies in Nigerian diabetic patients.

The levels of insulin antibodies were determined in 68 diabetic patients on insulin treatment and 30 normal subjects. Fifty (73.5%) of the patients had low levels of insulin antibodies (less than 20%), twelve (17.7%) had moderate levels (between 20 and 40%) while the remaining six (8.8%) had high antibody levels (greater than 40%). There was poor correlation of insulin antibody level with insulin dose (r = 0.16, p less than 0.1) and with duration of disease (r = 0.19, p less than 0.5). Where high levels of antibodies were detected the problems encountered in treating the patients with highly purified insulin preparations are discussed.