Insulin Pharmacology

Download as docx, pdf, or txt
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 1

Types of insulin Pharmacokinetics Application Additional considerations [1]

Rapid-acting insulin
Lispro  Onset: 5–15 minutes  Basal-bolus insulin regimen  Insulin analogs
Aspart  Peak: ∼ 1 hour  Sliding scale insulin regimen  Rapid absorption due to immediate dissociation into individual
glulisine  Duration: 3–4 hour insulin molecules
 No time interval between injection and meal necessary
 Usually combined with long-acting insulin
Short-acting insulin
Regular insulin  Onset: ∼ 30 minutes  Standard insulin option for lowering blood  Recommended interval between injections and meals: 15–30
 Peak: 2–3 hours glucose levels in an acute setting (see minutes
 Duration: 4–6 hours “Hyperglycemic crises”)  Often used in combination with long-acting insulin
 Sliding scale insulin regimen  The only insulin available for intravenous use
 Basal supported oral therapy (BOT)
Intermediate-acting insulin
NPH insulin  Onset: 1–2 hours  Glucocorticoid-induced hyperglycemia (see  Crystalline suspension consisting of regular insulin (with a high
 Peak: 6–10 hours weight-based NPH insulin regimen for level of solubility) and protamine (with a low level of solubility)
 Duration: 10–16 hours glucocorticoid-induced hyperglycemia)  Recommended interval between injections and meal, if it is the
 Insulin regimens for enteral and parenteral only antidiabetic drug used: 30–60 minutes
nutrition  Often used in combination with rapid-acting or short-acting
 Basal-bolus insulin regimen for treatment- insulin
resistant type 2 diabetes mellitus  Usually administered twice daily
Long-acting insulin
Insulin glargine  Onset: 1–4 hours  Basal-bolus insulin regimen  Insulin analogs
Insulin detemir  Peak: flat; not defined  Basal supported oral therapy (BOT)  More consistent effect and longer duration of action compared
degludec  Duration: ∼ 24 hours to NPH insulin
 Often used in combination with rapid or short-acting insulin
 Administered once or twice daily
Mixed insulin
Mixed insulin  Biphasic effect  Basal-bolus insulin regimen  Typically a mixture of NPH insulin and either rapid-acting
 Short-term effect similar to that of insulin or regular insulin, in a predefined ratio
regular insulin/lispro/aspart  Administered 2–3 times daily
 Long-term effect similar to that of  Only requires one injection per application without the need to
NPH insulin mix fast- and intermediate-acting insulin

You might also like