RESUMO
One of the major difficulties in maintaining normoglycemia in patients with insulin-dependent diabetics relates to the failure of subcutaneous injections to duplicate or simulate the normal release from the pancreas. The raid surge in circulating insulin with nutrient intake is very difficult to achieve even with well-timed preprandial injections of regular insulin. It was attempted to compare the bioavailability of the various regular insulin preparations [porcine, bovine and human] after stabilizing the various factors that might be involved in the process of insulin absorption and delivery. There was no statistically significant difference in the glycemic control for each patient and for the patients collectively when porcine, bovine or human insulin were used [P >0.05], neither was there any difference in the free insulin level with the three preparations [P >0.05]. The most repair glucose response was observed with human insulin peaking in less than 2 hours. Response to porcine and bovine insulin were more delayed 3 and 4 hours, respectively. The hypoglycemic and free insulin time responses to human insulin bears the closest relation to the normal insulin response curve. If bovine or porcine preparations are to be used, preprandial injections should be properly timed