title: Continuous basal insulin infusion without premeal boluses in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus therapy.
abstract: Six insulin-dependent diabetic patients, poorly controlled on conventional insulin therapy (CIT), underwent continuous basal insulin infusion (CBII) and continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) during 2 subsequent periods of 1 month each, employing a Betatron II insulin infusion pump (Lilly, CPI). During CSII, insulin was infused at a continuous basal rate with 3 premeal boluses. During CBII, from 22(00) to 06(00) a continuous basal nocturnal insulin infusion rate and from 06(00) to 22(00) a diurnal one, which was approximately twice the former, were maintained and total daily calorie intake was subdivided into 6 isoglycidic and isocaloric meals, taken at regular intervals. We obtained better blood glucose control both by CSII and CBII than by CIT, with significant reduction of HbA1 values. Mean blood glucose levels were lower during CBII than during CSII, while M-index, number of hypo- and hyperglycemic events and insulin requirement were not different. However, daily blood glucose excursions were narrower and percent blood glucose increment after the noon meal was reduced during CBII. CBII insulin profile was characterized by a plateau trend with lower levels at meals in comparison with CSII. Our data show that the subdivision of daily calorie intake into 6 isocaloric and isoglycidic meals allows to achieve good metabolic control by continuous basal insulin infusion without need for premeal boluses and could be especially useful in brittle diabetic patients, whose brittle condition may be caused by erratic absorption of subcutaneous boluses of insulin.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Patologia Medica, Unversità degli Studi di Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cimino
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Valentini
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rotondi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Candrina
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salvi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spandrio
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Radaeli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giustina
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007332:Insulin Infusion Systems; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin