Insulin and Glucagon Coadministration in Type 1 Diabetes Prevents Hypoglycemia without Worsening Hyperglycemia

This Medfyle was published more than two years ago. More recent Medfyle on this topic may now be available.

Key messages

• Hypoglycemia remains the greatest obstacle that prevents insulin-treated patients from attaining acceptable metabolic control and this, in turn, drives long term health consequences.
• Novel findings have demonstrated that it may be feasible to simultaneously co-administer the peptide hormones within certain plasma concentration conditions, allowing the control of excessive hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic excursions.
• The co-administered (IV) insulin and glucagon at a fixed molar ratio in subjects with type 1 diabetes during a mixed meal challenge are not showing safety concerns and the treatment was well tolerated by all subjects.
• A clear mitigation of hypoglycemia risk was observed in all subjects who experienced low blood glucose without worsening control of the post-meal plasma glucose rise.
• This novel treatment approach is based on an increased appreciation of the complex relationship of the two glucoregulatory peptides, thereby widening the therapeutic window of insulin and mitigating hypoglycemia risk, the greatest fear of patients with diabetes.
• This approach opens the door to highly impactful yet simplified therapeutic approaches.