The clinical effects of mixing short- and intermediate-acting insulins in the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes

Abstract

Premixing short- and intermediate-acting insulins in one syringe, with refrigerated storage before injection, is practised by some centres in the treatment of older patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Because other studies have reported the loss of the short-acting insulin component after mixing with intermediate-acting insulins, we examined the clinical effect of mixing soluble insulin with lente or isophane insulins in subjects with non-insulin-dependent diabetes. When soluble and lente insulins were mixed in the same syringe and injected immediately, the peak level of insulin was very similar to the peak level after separate injections but occurred at five hours instead of three..