insulin-detemir and Overweight

The recent evidence-based shift towards an algorithm of early initiation and aggressive titration of insulin therapy in the management of type 2 diabetes requires the use of an effective insulin formulation that is both safe and acceptable to patients and physicians alike. The advent of the long-acting insulin analogues, insulin detemir and glargine, in the last decade has revolutionized insulin therapy in type 2 diabetes. Their unique pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties have offered tangible advantage over the conventional intermediate and long-acting insulin preparations in terms of improving glucose control as well as reducing risk of hypoglycemia and weight gain. This review focuses on the pharmacodynamic properties of the long-acting insulin analogue detemir, the outcome of studies on its relative efficacy and safety as well as its proposed place in the management of type 2 diabetes.

Topics: Blood Glucose; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Glycated Hemoglobin; Humans; Hypoglycemia; Hypoglycemic Agents; Insulin; Insulin Detemir; Insulin, Long-Acting; Overweight; Treatment Outcome; Weight Gain

To assess weight change when once-daily insulin detemir (detemir) or neutral protamine Hagedorn insulin (NPH) are used in already overweight Type 2 diabetes patients requiring intensified insulin therapy.. This 26-week randomized, controlled trial included adults with Type 2 diabetes [glycated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) 7.5-11.0%, body mass index (BMI) 25-40 kg/m(2)] who had received two daily doses of insulin (at least one a premix) for > or = 3 months. Subjects received either detemir (n = 125) or NPH (n = 146) once daily in the evening and insulin aspart at main meals. Concomitant treatment with metformin was allowed. Basal insulin was titrated to a pre-breakfast plasma glucose target of 6.1 mmol/l without unacceptable hypoglycaemia. Insulin aspart was also titrated (target, postprandial glucose < or = 10.0 mmol/l without unacceptable hypoglycaemia).. At 26 weeks, weight had increased significantly less with detemir (0.4 kg) than with NPH (1.9 kg; difference 1.5 kg, P < 0.0001). BMI increase was also less with detemir than with NPH (difference 0.6 kg/m(2), P < 0.0001). HbA(1c) decreased from 8.9 to 7.8% (detemir) and from 8.8 to 7.8% (NPH; not significant for between-treatment difference). Incidence of hypoglycaemia was lower with detemir [relative risks 0.62 (all events) and 0.43 (nocturnal); P < 0.0001 for both].. PREDICTIVE BMI was the first study to examine the effect of once-daily detemir with weight as the primary endpoint in a large population of overweight Type 2 diabetes patients. Use of once-daily detemir for intensification of insulin therapy resulted in less weight gain, less hypoglycaemia and equivalent glycaemic control compared with NPH.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Aged; Body Mass Index; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Female; Humans; Hypoglycemia; Hypoglycemic Agents; Insulin; Insulin Detemir; Insulin, Isophane; Insulin, Long-Acting; Male; Middle Aged; Overweight; Weight Gain

Several studies suggest benefits of insulin analogues detemir or glulisine in overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes. The present multicentre study therefore examines, whether these insulin analogues are used more frequently in patients with increased body mass index.. Data of 38 560 adult type 2 diabetic patients using insulin analogues, from 150 centres in Germany, registered in a standardized, prospective, computer-based documentation program (DPV), were included. Patients were classified into body mass index categories according to World Health Organization. Analysis was stratified by 3 time periods. To adjust for confounding effects, multivariable logistic regression models were created.. Detemir was preferentially used in overweight (OR 1.36, 95%-CI 1.20-1.53) and obese patients (OR 2.06, 95%-CI 1.84-2.31) compared to normal-weight patients. These effects remained significant after adjusting for sex, age, new/old federal state of Germany, size of centre, treatment in university clinic and clinic/specialized private practice. Models were additionally adjusted for time period and interaction of BMI category with age or sex. For glulisine, a minor effect was present when comparing obese to normal-weight patients (OR 1.26, 95%-CI 1.06-1.50). After adjustment, this finding was no longer significant. Stratified by obesity grade, class III obese patients more frequently used detemir or glulisine compared to class I obese patients. Comparing time periods, odds ratios did not differ, neither for detemir nor for glulisine..  Detemir is used more often in overweight and obese patients compared to normal-weight patients. For glulisine, the relationship is less pronounced.

Topics: Aged; Body Weight; Databases, Factual; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Drug Prescriptions; Female; Germany; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents; Insulin; Insulin Detemir; Insulin, Long-Acting; Male; Middle Aged; Obesity; Overweight; Practice Patterns, Physicians'; Registries

Insulin stimulates cerebrocortical beta and theta activity in lean humans. This effect is reduced in obese individuals indicating cerebrocortical insulin resistance. In the present study we tested whether insulin detemir is a suitable tool to restore the cerebral insulin response in overweight humans. This approach is based on studies in mice where we could recently demonstrate increased brain tissue concentrations of insulin and increased insulin signaling in the hypothalamus and cerebral cortex following peripheral injection of insulin detemir.. We studied activity of the cerebral cortex using magnetoencephalography in 12 lean and 34 overweight non-diabetic humans during a 2-step hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp (each step 90 min) with human insulin (HI) and saline infusion (S). In 10 overweight subjects we additionally performed the euglycemic clamp with insulin detemir (D). While human insulin administration did not change cerebrocortical activity relative to saline (p = 0.90) in overweight subjects, beta activity increased during D administration (basal 59+/-3 fT, 1(st) step 62+/-3 fT, 2(nd) step 66+/-5, p = 0.001, D vs. HI). As under this condition glucose infusion rates were lower with D than with HI (p = 0.003), it can be excluded that the cerebral effect is the consequence of a systemic effect. The total effect of insulin detemir on beta activity was not different from the human insulin effect in lean subjects (p = 0.78).. Despite cerebrocortical resistance to human insulin, insulin detemir increased beta activity in overweight human subjects similarly as human insulin in lean subjects. These data suggest that the decreased cerebral beta activity response in overweight subjects can be restored by insulin detemir.

Topics: Adult; Case-Control Studies; Cerebral Cortex; Female; Humans; Insulin; Insulin Detemir; Insulin, Long-Acting; Male; Overweight