Insulin-derived amyloidosis (insulin ball) and skin-related complications of insulin therapy

<p>Skin-related complications of insulin therapy have long been a problem as a factor interfering with insulin therapy. Among the traditional skin-related complications, lipoatrophy and insulin allergy have decreased markedly with the development of insulin preparations, but lipohypertrophy is still common in insulin-treated patients. Recently, there have been more reports of a skin-related complication called insulin-derived amyloidosis or insulin ball. Insulin-derived amyloidosis is a condition in which injected insulin becomes amyloid protein and is deposited at the injection site. Insulin-derived amyloidosis causes poor glycemic control and increased insulin dose requirements, which are caused by decreased insulin absorption. Lipohypertrophy also decreases insulin absorption, but insulin-derived amyloidosis causes a more significant decrease in insulin absorption and has a greater clinical impact. Therefore, it is important to make a differential diagnosis between insulin-derived amyloidosis and lipohypertrophy, but sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the two and imaging studies are required. The diagnosis of insulin-derived amyloidosis is often difficult in the general practice, and its pathogenesis and prevalence have not been fully clarified. Recently, it has been reported that insulin-derived amyloidosis can be toxic, suggesting an association with minocycline use. The treatment of insulin-derived amyloidosis and lipohypertrophy is to avoid the site of amyloidosis or lipohypertrophy and inject insulin, but the dose of insulin injection should be reduced. Prevention of both insulin-derived amyloidosis and lipohypertrophy is important, and for this purpose, observations of the insulin injection site and instruction on appropriate insulin injection techniques are necessary, and multidisciplinary cooperation is extremely important.</p>