HUMAN INSULIN AND HYPOGLYCEMIA - A LITERATURE SURVEY

Thirty-nine clinical studies and 12 epidemiological reports comparing human insulin and porcine insulin were reviewed. Twenty-five studies ( encompassing 338 subjects) showed identical symptoms and physiological response to acute hypoglycaemia overall. Fifteen studies (encompassin g more than 1253 patients) showed identical incidence of hypoglycaemia overall and similar symptoms with the two types of insulin. Twelve ep idemiological studies showed identical incidence of hypoglycaemia over all with the two types of insulin. Thus, the overwhelming evidence fro m a large number of studies including a large number of patients sugge sts that: (1) human and porcine insulin do not provoke different hormo nal responses to hypoglycaemia; (2) they do not cause different sympto ms of hypoglycaemia; (3) the incidence of severe hypoglycaemia with hu man insulin does not differ from that of porcine insulin.