Repeated Hypoglycemia Caused by the Overproduction of Anti-insulin Antibodies and Isolated ACTH Deficiency in a Type 2 Diabetic Patient Receiving Insulin Therapy

Abstract

A 46-year-old man with untreated type 2 diabetes visited our hospital. His plasma glucose and HbA1c levels were 429 mg/dL and 11.5%, respectively. He had no renal dysfunction. Insulin therapy (18 units aspart and 22 units biphasic insulin aspart 30/70) was initiated, and the HbA1c level improved (5.7–6.4%). One year later, he started experiencing frequent hypoglycemic attacks, which persisted despite significantly reducing his insulin dosage (total 9 units). Fasting plasma glucose, serum immunoreactive insulin (IRI), C-peptide, and HbA1c levels were 75 mg/dL, 420 μU/mL (reference, 1.7–10.4), 1.2 ng/mL (reference, 0.6–1.8), and 5.4%, respectively. His anti-insulin immunoglobulin G antibody (IA) titer (125I-insulin binding rate) was 95.5% (reference, 0–7.0); free and total IRI levels were 11.0 and >240 μU/mL, respectively. After insulin cessation, …