Human and Porcine Regular Insulins Are Equally Effective in Subcutaneous Replacement Therapy: Results of a Double-Blind Crossover Study in Type I Diabetic Patients with Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion

Semisynthetic human Actrapid insulin (HAI, Novo, Copenhagen) was tested against porcine Actrapid insulin (PAI, Novo, Copenhagen) in 12 type I diabetic patients treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). In a double-blind crossover trial each patient received both types of insulin over a 3-wk period, respectively. No significant differences between HAI and PAI were observed in the following parameters: mean blood glucose levels (MBG) of 3–6 measurements per day (129 ± 5 versus 125 ± 4 mg/dl, means ± SEM), mean maximal excursions of blood glucose during the day (107 ± 6.6 versus 107 ± 6.9 mg/dl), total dally insulin requirements (sum of basal and premeal insulin doses, 45.7 ± 1.4 versus 42.7 ± 1.4 U/day), and a mean of weekly determined hemoglobin A_1c values (7.77 ± 0.13 versus 7.83 ± 0.14% of total hemoglobin); the frequency of mild hypoglycemic episodes was similar with the two insulins. Thus, under the controlled conditions of CSII, semisynthetic human and porcine regular insulin preparations are of identical efficacy in type I diabetic patients at near normoglycemia.