A comparison of the pharmacodynamic profiles of jet-injected regular human insulin versus conventionally administered insulin aspart in healthy volunteers.
OBJECTIVE
Rapid-acting insulin analogues are generally preferred over regular human insulin because of their more immediate onset of action and shorter time-action profile. However, these analogues may not always be tolerated by or universally available for people with insulin-requiring diabetes. Jet injection has been demonstrated to facilitate faster insulin absorption. We determined whether administration of regular human insulin by jet injection achieves the same pharmacological properties as that of a rapid-acting insulin analogue.


METHODS
Twenty healthy volunteers received regular human insulin (0.2units/kg) by jet injection. Glucose 20% was infused intravenously to maintain euglycaemia over six hours. The glucose infusion rates (GIR) were determined to compare pharmacological profiles. These profiles were compared with data from two other studies in which a similar dose of insulin aspart was administered by conventional pen.


RESULTS
Regular human insulin by jet injection had a faster onset of glucose-lowering effect compared to aspart by conventional pen (T-GIR50%, 30.8±2.9 versus 43.1±3.2min, P<0.01). There were no differences in time to maximal GIR (106.1±11.9 versus 95.8±9.2min, P=0.50), maximal GIR (8.6±0.7 versus 7.7±0.7mg/kg/min, P=0.0.33), total glucose-lowering effect (101.0±9.8 versus 87.6±7.0g, P=0.28), and time until 50% of glucose disposal (144.8±5.6 versus 151.3±5.1min, P=0.39).


CONCLUSIONS
Jet-injected regular human insulin had a pharmacological profile that was essentially not dissimilar from that of aspart insulin administered by conventional pen, and can therefore be used as an alternative for conventionally administered rapid-acting insulin analogues.
Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Elsemiek.engwerda@radboudumc.nl.
E E C
EEC
Engwerda
Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
C J
CJ
Tack
Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
B E
BE
de Galan
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D015309:Glucose Clamp Technique; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D007277:Injections, Jet; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D061267:Insulin Aspart / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D061386:Insulin, Regular, Human / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
D001786:Blood Glucose; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D061386:Insulin, Regular, Human; D061267:Insulin Aspart
Diabetes; Insulin therapy; Pharmacodynamics; Regular insulin