Improvement of insulin binding to erythrocyte insulin receptors in uraemia by haemodialysis.

Insulin binding to erythrocytes obtained from uraemic patients was determined using a radioreceptor assay. The binding was reduced by 50 per cent in 20 non-diabetic uraemic patients in comparison with 20 controls (4.7 +/- 1.79 vs 9.37 +/- 1.30 (mean +/- SD) p less than 0.01). During the course of haemodialysis insulin binding steadily increased in a time dependent manner in proportion to the efficiency of haemodialysis as assessed by relative decrease in plasma urea, uric acid or creatinine. Incubation of healthy donors' erythrocytes with uraemic plasma resulted in a dose dependent inhibition of insulin binding with a maximum of 40 per cent. These data indicate the presence of dialysable inhibitors of insulin binding in uraemic plasma.