Radioimmunoassay of chemically modified insulins

The reactions between four insulin antisera and eighteen insulin derivatives with modifications at the A1, B1 and B29 positions have been studied using a standard double-antibody radioimmunoassay procedure. The derivatives studied had: a) single modifications at A1, B1 or B29,; b) modifications at two sites with or without a crosslink between them; c) modifications at all three sites with or without a crosslink. Analysis of the results showed a clear difference in the reactivity of the antisera. One antiserum (GP5) was highly sensitive to modifications of the B1 residue and another (Ab1) was sensitive to A1 and B29 modifications. Thus, immunological potencies of insulin analogues derived on the basis of these reactions with the antisera give widely varying results. These antisera were used in discriminatory radioimmunoassays of chemically modified insulins in biological fluids for estimation of in vivo hypoglycaemic potencies by an infusion technique, where the knowledge of the specificity of the antisera was useful in assessing the immunological identity of immunoreactive material in plasma with the analogue infused.