Comparing two different types of insulin for people with type 2 diabetes

This study wanted to compare how well two different kinds of insulin, insulin glargine (Lantus) 300u/ml, and insulin degludec (Tresiba), worked for people with type 2 diabetes. The study found that the patients in both groups had similar blood glucose control and similar episodes of low blood glucose events. 

Type 2 diabetes sometimes needs to be treated with insulin. There are a number of types of insulin which can be used. Using any kind of insulin can sometimes result in low blood glucose events, called hypoglycemia. It is not known if using insulin glargine 300u/ml will result in more or less hypoglycemic events than using insulin degludec. It is also not known if one will result in the patient having better overall blood glucose than the other. 

This study had 1276 patients. All the patients had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. None of the patients had ever used insulin treatment before. This study looked back in time at the patients. The patients were followed for six months after they started treatment. 638 of these patients took insulin glargine 300u/ml. 638 of these patients took insulin degludec. 

The measure used to determine if the patients' blood glucose improved was their HbA1c. HbA1c is a measure of the average of a patients blood glucose for the last 3 months. The patients who took insulin glargine decreased their HbA1c by 1.67%. The patients who took insulin degludec decreased their HbA1c by 1.58%. 23.8% of the patients who took insulin glargine and 27.4% of the patients who took insulin degludec ended up with an HbA1c below 7%. 55.0% of the patients who took insulin glargine and 57.1% of the patients who took insulin degludec ended up with an HbA1c below 8%. The rates of low blood glucose events were the same in both groups. 

Patients with type 2 diabetes who used insulin glargine and insulin degludec had similar HbA1c and low blood glucose results. 

This confirms findings from other studies. These patients were living in the real world, this was not a hospital trial. This study was funded by Sanofi, the manufacturer of insulin glargine.