[Efficacy and safety of insulin degludec for diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis]

To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of insulin degludec for diabetes mellitus (DM).

Databases including Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Wanfang Data, China Biology Medicine disc (CBM) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched electronically for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) meeting including criteria and the methodological quality of studies was assessed. Then meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.0 software.

Twelve RCTs with 6 527 patients were included into our study: 4 358 patients in degludec group and 2 169 patients in control group. Compared with insulin glargine, insulin degludec was more effective in reducing fasting blood glucose (MD=-0.40, 95%CI: -0.65--0.16, P=0.001), but less effective in improving levels of glycated hemoglobin (MD=0.13, 95%CI: 0.08-0.17, P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the incidence rate of adverse events in two groups (OR=0.98, 95%CI: 0.87-1.10, P=0.700), but incidence rate of nocturnal hypoglycaemia was significantly lower in insulin degludec group (OR=0.82, 95%CI: 0.72-0.94, P=0.004).

Insulin degludec is non-inferior to other basal insulin in reducing levels of blood glucose, but insulin degludec can obviously reduce the incidence rate of nocturnal hypoglycaemia, so it is safer than other basal insulin. The long-term efficacy and safety should be further studied .