Abstract

BACKGROUND
Insulin pumps can be extremely effective in achieving a normal or near-normal blood glucose level in type 1 diabetic patients. For designing a pump program in western countries, it has been recommended that approximately half of the daily insulin dose should given in the basal infusion, and the other half make up the meal-related bolus dose. However, peoples' diet composition is quite different among the many countries. The carbohydrate composition in the Korean diet is higher (60~65%) than that in the western diet (45~50%). Carbohydrate is much more glycemic than protein or fat. Therefore, we evaluated the basal and meal-related insulin requirements for Korean type 1 diabetics by using continuous insulin infusion with portable external pumps. METHODS: Twenty three type 1 diabetic patients were admitted for continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII), and they were given a calculated diet (60% carbohydrate, 20% protein, and 20% fat). The Basal rates were set for the blood glucose levels to remain in the target range during 12 hour fasting state. The meal related bolus dose was set to remain in the target range at the premeal state. RESULTS: The daily total insulin requirement was 99.7 +/-0.3% of prepump insulin dose, and 0.57 +/-0.21 unit per kilogram of body weight. The basal and mealrelated insulin dose among the daily total insulin requirements were 33.7 +/-8.6 and 66.3 +/-8.6%, respectively. The daily total, basal and meal-related insulin requirements were not significantly related with body weight, but the glucose disposal rate per 1unit of insulin was significantly related with body weight (r=-0.424, P <0.05). CONCLUSION: Although the daily total insulin requirement per kilogram of body weight in Korean type 1 diabetics was similar to that in western diabetics, the basal insulin requirements were less and the meal-related insulin requirements were more than that in western diabetics.

• Keywords: Basal and meal-related insulin requirement;Insulin pump