Background: This study aimed to compare glycemic variations seen among Japanese patients with type 1 diabetes treated with insulin glargine versus insulin detemir using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in a crossover design.
Subjects and methods: Twenty-three patients with type 1 diabetes were enrolled in this study. The subjects were on either insulin glargine followed by insulin detemir twice daily, or vice versa, with no change in the timing of injections. The glycemic variations during 4-day hospitalizations were monitored by CGM while the patients were on either regimen, with a second hospitalization scheduled more than 1 month after the change of the long-acting insulin analogs. CGM data obtained on Day 3 of both hospitalizations were compared.
Results: The subjects had a median age of 44.0 years, a median body mass index of 22.2 kg/m(2), and a median glycosylated hemoglobin of 7.3%. There was no significant difference between the two treatments with a mean glucose level of 156 mg/dL with the insulin glargine treatment versus 150 mg/dL with the insulin detemir treatment; their SD values were 60 versus 51 mg/dL, their mean amplitude of glycemic excursions values were 121 versus 105 mg/dL, and their mean of daily differences values were 45.7 versus 41.4 mg/dL, respectively. In addition, the insulin detemir treatment was associated with a narrower range of postprandial glucose increases after lunch (80 vs. 59 mg/dL; P=0.007).
Conclusions: A comparison of the long-acting insulin analogs administered twice daily in type 1 diabetes demonstrated that insulin detemir may potentially offer better glycemic control after lunch than insulin glargine.