Brief Review of the Immunology of Insulin

Abstract

For a long time, no antigenic properties were attributed to insulin. Up to the present, it remains controversial whether insulin is a weak or a strong antigen. On the one hand, hormones were not regarded as antigens due to their species-unspecific biological activity, while on the other hand, insulin is a very small molecule in comparison with other proteins. Indeed, Lewis (1937) was able to demonstrate that guinea-pig uterus, immunized with bovine or porcine insulin, reacted by contracting in the presence of the antigen (Schultz-Dale technique). Haurowitz (1950), however, still considered the antigenic property of insulin quite improbable.