Prevalence of lipodystrophy associated with human recombinant insulin

Background and Lipodystrophy is potentially a clinical adverse effect, associated with insulin therapy and is believed that usage of human recombinant insulin’s is associated with decreasing prevalence of Lipodystrophy. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of insulin induced Lipodystrophy, among diabetic out-patients referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital, in Sari during 2007. In this cross sectional descriptive study, 220 diabetic patients referred to the Diabetes Center at Imam Khomeini Hospital, in Sari, who under treatment by insulin at least three months prior to referral was evaluated. First, the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were recorded in a questionnaire then all patients were examined clinically to evaluate lipodystrophy. In all subjects, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) was measured to assess the range of blood glucose level control. Recorded data were analyzed by statistical methods, such as descriptive T-test and X². Of 220 diabetic patients studied, thirty-five (15.9%) showed clinical evidences of insulin induced Lipodystrophy 32 out of 35 cases of Lipodystrophic patients (14.5%) had Lipohypertrophy, while 3 cases (1.4%) had Lipoatrophy. The factors included Age, Sex, Education, BMI (Body mass index), type of Diabetes, The duration of insulin consumption and injection site had statistically significant effects on development of insulin induced Lipodystrophy (P<0.05). The results of this study demonstrated that despite using human recombinant insulin’s, the prevalence of insulin induced lipodystrophy, especially Lipohypertrophy, has remained high up to present. Therefore, regular examination of patients for this side effect is necessary, especially in subjects without good control of blood glucose level.