Bovine means "derived from a cow." An example would be milk. Generally, grocery stores sell cow's (or bovine) milk, but some also sell milk derived from other species, such as goats.

The pancreases of cows are used to make bovine insulin. The pancreases of pigs also are used to make insulin; hence the term porcine and discussions here of porcine insulin.

Amino acid differencesEdit

For dogs, there are 2 amino acid differences between their own insulin and bovine: positions A #8 and A #10. On the A insulin chain, dogs have Threonine at A #8-cows have Alanine; dogs have Isoleucine at A #10, while cows have Valine.

These insulins are natural and entirely or partly derived from bovine (cow) sources.

Lilly's Iletin I insulins were a mixture of beef and pork; they were 85-90% bovine insulin.

There is no blend of bovine/porcine insulin marketed presently by any pharmaceutical company. The last was PZI Vet, whose manufacturer, IDEXX, purchased the Iletin I PZI formula from Eli Lilly. It is the basis for PZI Vet insulin, but produced in a U40 strength, as opposed to U100.

Many humans also prefer beef-based insulins, which are claimed by some to give a clearer warning of impending low blood sugar than the comparable human GE and analog insulins.

1999 notice ^[1] of Lilly's discontinuation of Iletin I beef/pork insulins; pure beef was discontinued in 1995.

Bovine InsulinsEdit

Bovine Insulins
	Short Acting Soluble
R/Neutral	Hypurin Bovine Neutral Betasint Bovine Corriente
R/Neutral	Hypurin Vet Neutral (No longer produced.) Insuvet Neutral (No longer produced.)
R/Neutral	Iletin R (No longer produced.)
R/Neutral	Iletin I R Bovine/Porcine insulin. (No longer produced.)
	Short Acting Cloudy
Semilente	Iletin I Semilente Bovine/Porcine insulin. (No longer produced.)
	Intermediate Acting
NPH/isophane	Hypurin Bovine Isophane Betasint Bovine NPH
NPH/isophane	Iletin NPH (No longer produced.)
NPH/isophane	Iletin I NPH Bovine/Porcine insulin. (No longer produced.)
Mixed	Rapidtard Bovine/Porcine insulin. (No longer produced.)
Lente	Hypurin Bovine Lente Betasint Bovine Lente
Lente	Iletin Lente (No longer produced.) Beef Lentard (No longer produced.) Insuvet Lente (No longer produced.)
Lente	Iletin I Lente Bovine/Porcine insulin (No longer produced.) Lentard MC Bovine/Porcine insulin (No longer produced.)
	Long Acting
PZI	Hypurin Bovine Protamine Zinc
PZI	Hypurin Vet Protamine Zinc (No longer produced.) Insuvet Protamine Zinc (No longer produced.)
PZI	BCP PZI, VPOA PZI, Summit PZI Other Compounded Pure Bovine/Beef PZI
PZI	PZI Vet Bovine/Porcine insulin (No longer produced.)
Ultralente	Iletin Ultralente [2] Bovine insulin (No longer produced.)
Ultralente	Ultratard [3] Bovine insulin (No longer produced.)
Ultralente	Iletin I Ultralente Bovine/Porcine insulin (No longer produced.)

Prescribing informationEdit

Prescribing information for Bovine Insulins. ^[4] This shows information for the insulins of CP Pharma; information can also be applied to:Hypurin Vet Neutral, Hypurin Vet Protamine Zinc, Insuvet Neutral, Insuvet Lente, Insuvet Protamine Zinc, U100 BCP PZI, and Summit PZI .

See also porcine insulins.

ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ 1999 Notice of Lilly's Discontinuation of Iletin Beef/Pork Insulins. Newman Veterinary.
2. ↑ Discussion of differences in r-DNA Ultralente and beef Ultralente insulins. Free Patents Online.
3. ↑ Insulin Preparations-UK (1976).
4. ↑ Prescribing Information for Bovine Insulins.