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Human sera were tested for insulin antibodies by fluid and solid phase assays. Radioimmune titres determined with 125-I Tyr A14 insulin were not correlated with those obtained using insulin coated microplates and enzyme linked immunodetection (n = 60). Several reasons for this lack of correlation were found. Iodine substitution on the A14 residue of insulin may significantly alter the avidity of some insulin antibodies for their ligand; hence, disclosing a heretofore unsuspected pitfall for antibody determination by radioimmunoassay. Specificity for bovine insulin was easily demonstrable in fluid phase by comparing the binding of monoiodinated bovine, porcine and human insulin. By contrast, in solid phase assay, titres obtained with microplates coated with bovine or human insulin were almost equal, regardless of the serum specificity for bovine insulin. This lack of specificity of the solid phase assay is not due to denaturation or unavailability of the bovine specific epitope because: bovine specificity could be demonstrated by competitive assay, after preincubation of the serum with insulin of the different species; and, coating with crosslinked insulin dimers or oligomers instead of monomers did not unmask bovine specificity. It is concluded that radioimmune methods are best suited to study specificity but may be biased by the presence of the radioiodine label whereas solid phase assay detects low avidity antibodies with great efficiency but is less appropriate to study specificity.

To assess whether islet cells are equipped with recognition units which allow an intra-islet regulation via released hormones, the presence of insulin and glucagon receptors is investigated on purified pancreatic A and B cells. Mono-[125I]glucagon is shown to bind specifically to islet B cells, with similar binding characteristics as in isolated hepatocytes but involving less receptors per cell (2.10(4) per B cell vs. 8.10(5) per liver cell). Binding is half-maximally displaced by 5.10(-9) M glucagon, a concentration known to induce half-maximal biological effects in isolated B cells. These results are compatible with a regulatory role of glucagon in the insulin release process. No specific binding of [125I]tyr-A14-insulin is detected on pancreatic A cells. In order to increase receptor assay sensitivity, [123I]tyr-A14-insulin is prepared with at least 5-fold higher specific activity. Its validity for in vitro receptor analysis is demonstrated in IM-9 lymphocytes, where insulin binding is detectable down to 10(4) cells/ml. However, no insulin-binding sites are identified on pancreatic A cells, even at 10(6) cells/ml. If isolated A cells contain high affinity insulin receptors, their number should be inferior to 400 per cell, which is 50- to 500-fold lower than in classical insulin target cells. These findings explain the insensitivity of the glucagon release process to acute exposure to insulin.

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