Allergic response to glucagon injection as a result of insulin contamination

A 25-year-old obese woman with adult onset diabetes, with known insulin allergy, was evaluated for her insulin response to glucagon. Intravenous injection of glucagon produced severe generlaized allergic reaction. Skin tests with various insulin and glucagon preparations showed allergic reaction to be most pronounced with beef regular single peak and single component insulin, pork regular single peak, beef lente single peak, and neutral regular (beef-pork) single peak insulin. Allergic reactions to numerous glucagon preparations were found to be directly proportional to the amount of insulin contamination in those preparations. Purification of one glucagon lot by column chromatography verified the presence of proinsulin and insulin contaminants in the preparation.