[Allergy to human insulin. Case reports on 3 patients]

Allergy against human insulin was demonstrated in three diabetics who had not previously been treated with animal-derived insulin. In all three patients the allergy developed within a few weeks or months of starting insulin treatment. The diagnosis was confirmed by intracutaneous tests and determination of insulin-specific IgE antibodies. Desensitisation was necessary in one patient, in the other two the allergic symptoms were successfully treated by local measures. Two of the patients are at present well controlled on human insulin, while the third is still undergoing desensitisation. Such cases of primary allergy against human insulin have not previously been reported in the German medical literature.