[Long-acting insulin analogs: progressing slowly]

Abstract

In the last few years short-acting insulin analogs have become increasingly popular. Their introduction has unmasked serious deficiencies in the capacity of isophane insulin to provide a stable basal insulinaemia. The long-acting insulin analogs, insulin glargine and insulin detemir, have been developed as alternatives to isophane insulin. Insulin glargine has a long duration of action and has demonstrated its usefulness in diabetes type 2, specifically a lower incidence of (nocturnal) hypoglycaemia compared to isophane insulin, in clinical practice. Insulin detemir has a very low variability in absorption and also seems to reduce the risk of nocturnal hypoglycaemia in diabetes type 1. More studies are, however, needed. Because of the higher costs of these novel insulins, the decision to switch a patient from isophane insulin to an insulin analog has to be made on an individual basis.