Human insulin: much ado about hypoglycaemia (un)awareness

Area of Science:

• Endocrinology
• Metabolic Disorders
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Historically, porcine insulin was widely used for diabetes mellitus treatment.
• Concerns have been raised regarding potential differences in safety and efficacy between porcine and human insulin preparations.
• Understanding these differences is crucial for optimizing diabetes care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the biological effects of porcine and human insulin.
• To assess counterregulatory responses and glucose recovery after insulin administration.
• To evaluate the incidence of severe hypoglycemia with both insulin types in various patient populations.

Main Methods:

• Conducted controlled clinical investigations and prospective clinical trials.
• Included healthy volunteers, Type 1 diabetes patients (on continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion or intensified conventional insulin therapy), and insulin-treated Type 2 diabetes patients.
• Monitored biological effects, hypoglycemic symptoms, endocrine counterregulatory responses, and glucose recovery.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were identified in biological effects between porcine and human insulin preparations.
• Counterregulatory responses and hypoglycemic awareness showed no variation between the two insulin types.
• Long-term incidence of severe hypoglycemia did not differ between patients using porcine versus human insulin.

Conclusions:

• The study failed to confirm any specific risk of severe hypoglycemia associated with human insulin preparations.
• Porcine and human insulin demonstrate comparable safety and efficacy profiles.
• Current data support the continued use of human insulin in managing diabetes mellitus.