A comparative study on the hormonal responses to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia using semisynthetic human insulin and pork insulin in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

In order to enlighten the controversy on whether human and pork insulin result in different hormonal responses to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia, eight C-peptide negative, diabetic patients without measurable circulating insulin-binding antibodies were exposed to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia in random order with highly purified pork insulin (Actrapid) and semisynthetic human insulin (Actrapid Human). Hypoglycaemia was provoked by a constant rate IV infusion of insulin (0.034 U kg-1 h-1) for 3 h after which the blood glucose recovery was assessed for an additional period of 60 min. Both insulin preparations gave close to identical responses for glucose, glucagon, growth hormone, adrenaline, and somatostatin. The circulating noradrenaline levels were higher during the infusion of pork insulin which also yielded a more prominent response of pancreatic polypeptide and, after cessation of the insulin infusion, plasma cortisol was also higher following pork insulin. It is concluded that human and pork insulin induce close to identical responses of the important counter-regulatory hormones during hypoglycaemia in Type 1 diabetic patients.