A comparison of the effects of human and animal insulin as well as of the adverse reaction profile did not show clinically relevant differences. Many patient-oriented outcomes like health-related quality of life or diabetes complications and mortality were never investigated in high-quality randomised clinical trials. The story of the introduction of human insulin might be repeated by contemporary launching campaigns to introduce pharmaceutical and technological innovations that are not backed up by sufficient proof of their advantages and safety.
Development of insulin antibodies, metabolic control and B-cell function in newly diagnosed insulin dependent diabetic children treated with monocomponent human insulin or monocomponent porcine insulin.
One hundred and thirty eight patients participated in a two-year randomized, double-blind multicentre trial to compare monocomponent human insulin and porcine insulin in the treatment of newly diagnosed insulin dependent diabetic children with respect to development of insulin antibodies, metabolic control and B-cell function. There was no difference between the two patient groups throughout treatment either in the level of IgG insulin binding or the percentage of patients with insulin antibodies (IgG-insulin greater than 0.012 U/l). However, the estimated mean of log insulin binding values in the antibody positive patients alone was significantly lower (p less than 0.05) in the human insulin treated group at all times apart from 1 and 18 months (e.g., human insulin group at one and two years: 0.104 and 0.152 U/l, porcine insulin group at one and two years: 0.162 and 0.212 U/l). The insulin antibodies in both patient groups bound equivalent amounts of human and porcine insulin tracer. Metabolic control, insulin dosage and B-cell function in the two treatment groups were similar throughout the treatment period. It is concluded that in newly diagnosed insulin dependent diabetic children monocomponent human insulin is slightly less immunogenic than monocomponent porcine insulin, and equally effective in overall metabolic control.