Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Long-acting Insulin Analogs in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Failing on Oral Therapy: Systemic Review and Meta-analyses

Unlabelled: Aims/Introduction:  Although long-acting insulin analogs are recommended in type 2 diabetics failing on oral agents, their efficacy is uncertain. Here we compared the efficacy and safety of regimens based on long-acting insulin analogs with other preparations in insulin-naïve type 2 diabetics failing on oral agents.

Materials And Methods:   Data from 9548 participants in 22 English studies were included. Most of the studies were of short to medium duration and of low quality.

Results:   In terms of decreasing hemoglobin A1c, long-acting insulin analogs were not statistically significant to rapid-acting insulin analogs or intermediate neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin or glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogs, and the differences between long-acting and biphasic insulin analogs were marginal. Compared with rapid-acting insulin analogs, long-acting insulin analogs were similar in the incidence of total hypoglycemia, and the superiority in less weight gain was inconsistent. Relative to biphasic insulin analogs, long-acting insulin analogs were associated with lower incidence of total hypoglycemia and less weight gain. Compared with NPH insulin, long-acting insulin analogs were associated with lower incidence of total and nocturnal hypoglycemia. Relative to GLP-1 analogs, long-acting insulin analogs were associated with lower incidence of treatment related adverse events but with greater weight gain.

Conclusions:   For type 2 diabetics failing on oral agents, initiating long-acting insulin analogues seems to provide glycemic control similar to rapid-acting insulin analogs or NPH insulin or glucagon-like peptide-1 analogs and slightly inferior to biphasic insulin analogs with fewer side-effects. (J Diabetes Invest, doi: 10.1111/j.2040-1124.2011.00187.x, 2011).