Successful Outcomes with Insulin Degludec in Pregnancy: A Case Series

Optimal glycaemic control pre-conception and throughout pregnancy is paramount to achieve the best outcomes and to minimise the risk of complications for the mother and baby. Current long-acting insulin analogues that have been approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the UK for use in pregnancy include glargine and detemir. In many patients, these treatments have limitations because of their pharmacokinetic properties thus not enabling optimal glycaemic control. Efforts at rapidly achieving the recommended blood glucose targets with these analogues can be associated with recurrent and/or disabling hypoglycaemia. Degludec is a second-generation ultra-long-acting insulin analogue, which has been shown to mimic endogenous basal insulin production by the pancreas. This may offer patients better control with less hypoglycaemia where first-generation insulins fail. There are currently no randomised controlled studies to support the use of insulin degludec in pregnancy. We report three cases of women who were on insulin degludec during pregnancy and achieved successful outcomes. Two of them were commenced on this during pregnancy because of hypoglycaemia with licenced insulin therapy. All the women showed an improvement in glycaemic control during pregnancy. There was attenuation of a wide glycaemic variability as demonstrated by a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system in one of the patients. They all delivered healthy babies. This case series highlights the urgent need for large randomised control trials to establish the safety and efficacy of insulin degludec in pregnancy.