Insulin Degludec Linked to Reduced Rate of Hypoglycemia

THURSDAY, July 6, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, insulin degludec is associated with a reduced rate of hypoglycemic episodes compared with insulin glargine, according to two studies published in the July 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Wendy Lane, M.D., from Mountain Diabetes and Endocrine Center in Asheville, N.C., and colleagues randomized 501 adults with type 1 diabetes with at least one hypoglycemia risk factor to receive insulin degludec followed by insulin glargine or insulin glargine followed by insulin degludec for 32 weeks. The researchers found that the rates of overall symptomatic hypoglycemia were 2,200.9 and 2,462.7 per 100 person-years' exposure (PYE) in the insulin degludec and insulin glargine groups, respectively, during the maintenance period (rate ratio, 0.89; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.94; P < 0.001 for noninferiority; P < 0.001 for superiority).

Carol Wysham, M.D., from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Spokane, and colleagues randomized 721 patients with type 2 diabetes and at least one hypoglycemia risk factor to receive insulin degludec followed by insulin glargine (361 patients) or insulin glargine followed by insulin degludec (360 patients) for 32 weeks. The researchers found that the rates of overall symptomatic hypoglycemia for insulin degludec versus insulin glargine were 185.6 versus 265.4 episodes per 100 PYEs (rate ratio, 0.70; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.61 to 0.80; P < 0.001) during the maintenance period.

"Thirty-two weeks' treatment with insulin degludec versus insulin glargine U100 resulted in a reduced rate of overall symptomatic hypoglycemia," Wysham and colleagues write.

Several authors from both studies disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Novo Nordisk, which manufactures degludec and funded the studies.

Abstract/Full Text - Lane (subscription or payment may be required)
Abstract/Full Text - Wysham (subscription or payment may be required)
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