Clinical Experience with Insulin Glargine in Type 1 Diabetes

The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) demonstrated the importance of optimal glycemic control achieved through intensive insulin therapy in reducing the microvascular complications associated with type 1 diabetes. However, the DCCT, which was conducted prior to the availability of insulin analogs, also reported a significant increase in severe hypoglycemia with intensive versus conventional therapy. Insulin analogs were developed to aid patients in achieving better diabetes control by providing insulins with optimized pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics. Insulin glargine was the first long-acting insulin analog with a 24-h duration of action, offering once-daily injection, and has now been in clinical use for over 10 years. The authors performed a systematic search of EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Web of Science (Science Citation Index) to determine the efficacy of insulin glargine in type 1 diabetes in basal-bolus insulin regimens. Randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that glycemic control with insulin glargine is at least comparable to that with neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin in adults and in children and adolescents, and with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion in adults. However, these same trials show a significantly lower risk for hypoglycemia with insulin glargine compared with NPH insulin in adults.