What Is Recombinant Human Insulin?
Recombinant human insulin is a commercial hormone used to treat patients suffering from diabetes. Insulin, which is normally produced in the pancreas, serves to regulate blood sugar. It functions by allowing sugar in the blood to pass into the cells of the body so the cells can use it for energy. If a patient is diabetic and cannot produce insulin, levels of sugar in the blood will become elevated, which could cause serious health problems. Insulin must then be injected daily to maintain a constant level of blood sugar.
Recombinant human insulin is a commercial hormone used to treat patients suffering from diabetes. Insulin, which is normally produced in the pancreas, serves to regulate blood sugar. It functions by allowing sugar in the blood to pass into the cells of the body so the cells can use it for energy. If a patient is diabetic and cannot produce insulin, levels of sugar in the blood will become elevated, which could cause serious health problems. Insulin must then be injected daily to maintain a constant level of blood sugar. Insulin can be extracted from pigs or cows and be purified for use in humans. Bovine insulin from cows differs from human insulin by three amino acids, while porcine insulin from pigs only differs from human insulin by one amino acid. Some diabetic patients may develop an allergic reaction to insulin from animals if the body recognizes it as foreign. Recombinant human insulin produced in the laboratory is identical to the hormone produced naturally and typically does no
