Efficacy, safety and lack of immunogenicity of insulin aspart compared with regular human insulin for women with gestational diabetes mellitus

AIM: The efficacy and safety of insulin aspart (IAsp), a rapid-acting human insulin analogue, were compared with regular human insulin (HI) as the bolus component of basal-bolus therapy for subjects with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). METHODS: In a randomized, parallel-group, open-labelled trial, 27 women with GDM (age 30.7 ± 6.3 years, HbA(1c) < 7%) were randomized to receive IAsp (5 min before meal) or HI (30 min before meal). The trial period extended from diagnosis of GDM (18–28 weeks) to 6 weeks postpartum. RESULTS: Both treatment groups maintained good overall glycaemic control during the study (beginning and end of study HbA(1c)≤ 6%). During the meal test, mean glucose at week 6 (IAsp 4.2 ± 0.57 mmol/l, HI 4.8 ± 0.86 mmol/l) was slightly lower than at week 0 (IAsp 4.9 ± 0.59 mmol/l, HI 5.1 ± 0.36 mmol/l). However, change from baseline values for average glucose (IAsp –1.09 ± 0.54 mmol/l, HI –0.54 ± 0.74 mmol/l; P = 0.003) and C-peptide (IAsp –0.50 ± 0.67 nmol/l, HI –0.30 ± 0.70 nmol/l; P = 0.027) were significantly lower after IAsp treatment than HI treatment. No major hypoglycaemic events were reported during the study. Cross-reacting insulin antibody binding increased slightly from baseline in both treatments groups (end of study: IAsp 2.1 ± 5.4%, HI 6.4 ± 13.9%), whereas antibodies specific to IAsp or HI remained relatively low (< 1% binding). CONCLUSION: IAsp was more effective than HI in decreasing postprandial glucose concentrations. Duration of IAsp injection 5 min before a meal rather than 30 min prior to meals offers a more convenient therapy for subjects with GDM. Overall safety and effectiveness of IAsp were comparable to HI in pregnant women with GDM. Diabet. Med. 24, 1129–1135 (2007)