Toxicity of insulin due to phenol and metacresol

ann34+ said:

Agree, but at present we just dont know - the sciencedirect article references a whole lot of interesting studies, and by following the references in some of these I have realised how much more complex the infusion site issues in particular may be, especially over the long term, and how much they are being studied.

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tim2000s said:

@urbanracer The details of Insulin Aspart state 1.5mg/ml, as mentioned in the FDA briefing on the product. http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/briefing/2006-4254b_13_04_KP InsulinAspartFDAlabel102005.pdf

However, I personally inject <50u of Novorapid daily, so I'd be experiencing the effect of <0.75mg of phenol, which is well under what are considered to be "safe" levels.

On that point, it's also worth noting that in the statement in the science direct paper, phenol was noted to cause cellular death when the levels exceeded 1.2mg/ml/24 hours.

It's also worth noting that the levels at which adipocytes were damaged (with Phenol) was at 2.3mg/ml/24 hours and upwards. Again, this is a high amount of insulin.

In other words, what I take away from the study is that larger amounts of insulin, which increase the phenol and m-cresol concentration in cells, cause greater cell damage. That ignores that high levels of exogenous insulin also cause other metabolic issues that probably far outweigh the cell damage concerns.

The key point of the study appears to be to identify whether it is the Phenol/m-Cresol components of insulin as well as the invasive nature of the cannula that results in tissue damage, or whether it is just the latter. As the study says, more investigation is needed from both a control and testing inhibitors that may make a difference perspective.

As a footnote, I note that even when not continually infusing insulin through an injection port, there is still a similar level of irritation, so I question whether the hypothesis that it is heavily attributable to stability enhancers in the insulin is accurate.

In the meantime, I intend to continue to take insulin and stay alive.

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Jaylee said:

Hi,

Do you have any source links regarding the "filter?" Sounds facinating...

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donnellysdogs said:

There are enough people now living with diabetes over 50 years to reassure yourselves that it isn’t a problem!

The most probable problem causing earlier deaths is not looking after the blood levels, and supporting body with good food and cutting the carbs.

Do I worry about what is in the insulin??? No.

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LizLola said:

There are many people living with diabetes over 50 years - with a higher risk of cancer. That's not where it is injected (although in the lab tests on Lantus there were cancers at the site of the dogs who were used and doctors were supposed to check insulin sites when it first came out), and it would be very tricky to prove that this risk is the phenols rather than any other risk with being diabetic. But phenols are known to be toxic, their use in labs was banned more than 30 years ago, and the technicians were certainly not injecting it into themselves!

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RG_Knowing said:

Seeking insights from those with super high ratios and questioning if phenol could be the contributing factor. Despite my doctor's approval of omega-3 intake, he hasn't connected these dots effectively between omega-3 and the preservative in insulin. While addressing the latter may be challenging, it helps if we would know to manage omega-3 levels given the potential impact on health. Understanding the long-term effects of our daily intake is complex, and I'm open to hearing thoughts or experiences from anyone who has faced similar experience.

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