Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy, safety and pump compatibility of insulin aspart (a rapid-acting insulin analog) and buffered regular human insulin in patients with type 1 diabetes undergoing continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) therapy.
Research design and methods: This was a single-center randomized open-label study Patients received CSII therapy with insulin aspart (n = 19) or buffered regular human insulin (n = 10) for 7 weeks. Bolus doses of insulin aspart were administered immediately before meals and buffered regular human insulin 30 min before meals.
Results: Insulin aspart and buffered regular human insulin were both effective in controlling average daily blood glucose levels (8.2 +/- 1.9 and 8.5 +/- 2.1 mmol/l, respectively) (mean +/- SD) and maintaining serum fructosamine (343 +/- 25.7 and 336 +/- 27.4 micromol/l) and HbA1c (6.9 +/- 0.6 and 7.1 +/- 0.6%) levels. Possible obstructions and set leakages were infrequently reported in both groups. Similar numbers of patients experienced hypoglycemia (blood glucose <2.5 mmol/l): 14 (74%) insulin aspart patients versus 6 (60%) buffered regular human insulin patients. Patients receiving insulin aspart had fewer hypoglycemic events per patient (2.9) than those patients receiving buffered regular human insulin (6.2). There were no differences between the two insulins in the occurrence of hyperglycemic events (blood glucose >19 mmol/l) or in the number and type of adverse events.
Conclusions: Insulin aspart and buffered regular human insulin were effective and well tolerated and provided similar pump compatibility when used in CSII therapy.