Diabetes Care, Vol 22, Issue 1 133-136, Copyright © 1999 by American Diabetes Association
Optimal administration of lispro insulin in hyperglycemic type 1 diabetes
AG Rassam, TM Zeise, MR Burge and DS Schade
Department of Medicine/Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque 87131, USA. arassam@salud.unm.edu
OBJECTIVE: Lispro is a new rapidly absorbed insulin analog. At present,
there are no recommendations for the optimal injection time of lispro
insulin in hyperglycemic patients. In contrast to normoglycemic patients
with diabetes, we hypothesized that injection of lispro insulin 15-30 min
before meal ingestion would improve postprandial glucose excursion in
hyperglycemic diabetic subjects. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In 48
randomized overnight studies, 12 healthy adult type 1 diabetic patients
received lispro insulin 0.15 U/kg admixed with human ultralente 0.2 U/kg
(as background insulin) subcutaneously at minutes (-30, -15, 0, and +15)
relative to the ingestion of an American Diabetes Association breakfast of
8.6 kcal/kg. Pre-breakfast hyperglycemia of 10.2 +/- 0.2 mmol/l was
established before the study by continuous overnight infusion of
intravenous insulin, which was stopped 30 min before lispro insulin
injection. Glucose and insulin levels were measured every 30 min for 5 h
after breakfast. RESULTS: Results demonstrated that postprandial glucose
excursion was reduced when lispro insulin was administered 15 or 30 min
before the meal compared with lispro insulin injected at the meal (P <
0.002). The postprandial glucose excursion (millimoles per liter per hour)
was -6.4 +/- 3 for the -30-min group, -5.1 +/- 2.9 for the -15-min group,
3.4 +/- 4.1 for the 0-min group, and 5.7 +/- 4.4 for the +15-min group.
Although injecting lispro insulin at 30 min before the meal resulted in a
significant reduction in postprandial glycemia, it was accompanied by loss
of glucose control at 4 h postmeal in two subjects. CONCLUSIONS:
Optimization of lispro insulin in hyperglycemic patients requires timing of
the insulin injection at least 15 min before the meal.