Monograph: |
Bovine Porcine Insulin
Bovine insulin differs from human insulin by 1 amino acid in the B
chain & by 2 amino acids in the A chain while porcine insulin differ from human insulin by 1 amino acid in B chain.
Early commercial insulins were obtained by extrac-
tion from bovine or porcine or mixed bovine and
porcine pancreases and were purified by recrystalli-
sation only. Insulins obtained by such methods were
often termed 'conventional insulins' to distinguish
them from insulins which have undergone further
purification processes.
The precursor of insulin in the pancreas is proinsulin
which is a single polypeptide chain incorporating
both the A and .B chains of insulin connected by a
peptide termed the C-peptide (or connecting peptide).
Although the insulins of various species may
be similar in composition the proinsulins are not, in
that the sequence and number of amino acids in the
C-peptide may vary considerably.
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