Comparative Benefits and Harms of Basal Insulin Analogues for Type 2 Diabetes : A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis

Aims/hypothesis This 52-week multinational, randomised, open-label, parallel-group, non-inferiority trial compared clinical outcomes following supplementation of oral glucose-lowering drugs with basal insulin analogues detemir and glargine in type 2 diabetic patients. Methods Insulin-naive adults (n = 582, HbA1c 7.5–10.0%, BMI ≤ 40.0 kg/m2) were randomised 1:1 to receive insulin detemir or glargine once daily (evening) actively titrated to target fasting plasma glucose (FPG) ≤ 6.0 mmol/l. An additional morning insulin detemir dose was permitted if pre-dinner plasma glucose (PG) was >7.0 mmol/l after achieving FPG < 7.0 mmol/l. Due to labelling restrictions, no second glargine dose was allowed. Results Baseline HbA1c decreased from 8.6 to 7.2 and 7.1% (NS) with detemir and glargine, respectively. FPG improved from 10.8 to 7.1 and 7.0 mmol/l (NS), respectively. With detemir, 45% of participants completed the study on once daily dosing and 55% on twice daily dosing, with no difference in HbA1c. Overall, 52% of participants achieved HbA1c ≤ 7.0%: 33% (detemir) and 35% (glargine) without hypoglycaemia. Within-participant variability for self-monitored FPG and pre-dinner PG did not differ by insulin treatment, nor did the relative risk of overall or nocturnal hypoglycaemia. Modest reductions in weight gain were seen with detemir vs glargine in completers (3.0 vs 3.9 kg, p = 0.01) and in the intention-to-treat population (2.7 vs 3.5 kg, p = 0.03), primarily related to completers on once-daily detemir. Mean daily detemir dose was higher (0.78 U/kg [0.52 with once daily dosing, 1.00 U/kg with twice daily dosing]) than glargine (0.44 IU/kg). Injection site reactions were more frequent with detemir (4.5 vs 1.4%). Conclusions/interpretation Supplementation of oral agents with detemir or glargine achieves clinically important improvements in glycaemic control with low risk of hypoglycaemia. Non-inferiority was demonstrated for detemir using higher insulin doses (mainly patients on twice daily dosing); weight gain was somewhat reduced with once daily insulin detemir. ClinicalTrials.gov ID no.: NCT00283751. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00125-007-0911-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorised users. Show more

This trial compared the efficacy and safety profiles of the insulin analogues detemir and glargine as the basal insulin component of a basal-bolus regimen in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who were being treated with oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs) or insulin with or without OADs. This was a multinational, 52-week, openlabel, parallel-group, noninferiority, treat-to-target trial. Patients with a diagnosis of T2DM for > or = 12 months who had been receiving an OAD or insulin, with or without OADs, for > 4 months were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive detemir or glargine. According to the approved labeling, detemir could be administered once or twice daily, and glargine was administered once daily. Insulin aspart was given at mealtimes. Insulin secretagogues and a-glucosidase inhibitors were discontinued at study entry, and existing OADs were continued. Doses of detemir and glargine were titrated to achieve a prebreakfast (and predinner for detemir administered twice daily) plasma glucose target of or = 1 OAD, 35.4 were receiving insulin only, and 18.5% were receiving > or = 1 OAD only. At 52 weeks, there was no significant difference between detemir and glargine in terms of mean HbA(1c) (7.19% and 7.03%, respectively; mean difference, 0.17% [95% CI, -0.07 to 0.40]) or the mean decrease in HbAlc from baseline (-1.52% and -1.68%). The reduction in HbA(1c) was not significantly affected by whether detemir was administered once or twice daily. There were no significant differences between groups in terms of mean FPG (7.05 and 6.68 mmol/L) or the mean change in FPG from baseline (-2.56 and -2.92 mmol/L; mean difference, 0.36; 95% CI, -0.26 to 0.99). The overall shape of the 10-point SMPG profiles was not significantly different between groups. Mean weight gain at 52 weeks was significantly lower with detemir than with glargine (2.8 vs 3.8 kg; mean difference, -1.04; 95% CI, -2.08 to -0.01; P < 0.05). Doses of basal and prandial insulins at the end of the study were not significantly different between groups. Major hypoglycemic episodes were reported by 4.7% and 5.7% of patients in the respective treatment groups. There was no significant difference in the risk of hypoglycemia between groups. The proportion of patients with AEs and the number of AEs per patient were comparable between groups (185/214 patients [86.4%] reporting 743 AEs and 88/105 patients [83.8%] reporting 377 AEs). when used as indicated as part of a basal-bolus regimen in patients with T2DM who had previously received other insulin and/or OAD regimens, detemir was noninferior to glargine in its effects on overall glycemic control. Both basal insulins were associated with clinically relevant reductions in hyperglycemia. Both were well tolerated, with no significant difference in the frequency of hypoglycemia or AEs. Show more

OBJECTIVE To determine whether glargine is noninferior to detemir regarding the percentage of patients reaching A1C <7% without symptomatic hypoglycemia ≤3.1 mmol/l. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In this 24-week trial, 973 insulin-naive type 2 diabetic patients on stable oral glucose-lowering drugs with A1C 7.0–10.5% were randomized to glargine once daily or detemir twice daily. Insulin doses were systematically titrated. RESULTS 27.5 and 25.6% of patients reached the primary outcome with glargine and detemir, respectively, demonstrating the noninferiority of glargine. Improvements in A1C were −1.46 ± 1.09% for glargine and −1.54 ± 1.11% for detemir (P = 0.149), with similar proportions of patients achieving A1C <7% (P = 0.254) but more detemir-treated patients reaching A1C <6.5% (P = 0.017). Hypoglycemia risk was similar. Weight gain was higher for glargine (difference: 0.77 kg, P < 0.001). Glargine doses were lower than detemir doses: 43.5 ± 29.0 vs. 76.5 ± 50.5 units/day (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS In insulin-naive type 2 diabetic patients, glargine reached similar control as detemir, with more weight gain, but required significantly lower doses. Show more