What are the types of insulin?

From the Guidelines

Insulin is available in several types, including rapid-acting, short-acting, intermediate-acting, long-acting, and premixed insulins, each with distinct onset, peak, and duration of action. The types of insulin can be categorized as follows:

• Rapid-acting insulins, such as Humalog (insulin lispro), NovoLog (insulin aspart), and Apidra (insulin glulisine), which begin working within 15 minutes, peak in 1-2 hours, and last 2-4 hours, making them ideal for mealtime use 1.
• Short-acting or regular insulin, such as Humulin R and Novolin R, which starts working in 30 minutes, peaks in 2-3 hours, and lasts 3-6 hours.
• Intermediate-acting insulin, such as NPH (Humulin N, Novolin N), which has an onset of 2-4 hours, peaks in 4-12 hours, and lasts 12-18 hours 1.
• Long-acting insulins, such as Lantus (insulin glargine), Levemir (insulin detemir), and Tresiba (insulin degludec), which work over 24 hours with minimal peaks, providing basal coverage.
• Premixed insulins, which combine different types in fixed ratios, such as 70/30 or 75/25 mixtures of NPH and regular insulin, for convenience. The choice of insulin depends on individual blood glucose patterns, lifestyle, and treatment goals, with many patients using combinations of rapid-acting and long-acting insulins to mimic natural insulin secretion patterns 1.

From the FDA Drug Label

The FDA drug label does not answer the question.

From the Research

Types of Insulin

• Rapid-acting analogues:
  • Insulin aspart
  • Insulin lispro
  • Insulin glulisine 2
• Basal analogues:
  • Insulin glargine
  • Insulin detemir 2
• Premixed insulin analogues:
  • Biphasic insulin aspart 30 (BIAsp 30)
  • Biphasic insulin lispro 25 (Mix25)
  • Biphasic human insulin 30 (BHI 30) 3, 4
• Human insulin:
  • Regular insulin
  • Neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin 2, 5
• Inhaled insulins:
  • Similar to regular insulin with respect to efficacy and safety, though small reversible changes in pulmonary function have been noted 2

Characteristics of Insulin Types

• Rapid-acting analogues: provide better postprandial glucose control and less hypoglycaemia than regular insulin 2
• Basal analogues: provide better fasting glucose control and less risk of hypoglycaemia than conventional human NPH insulin 2
• Premixed insulin analogues: improve postprandial glycemic control compared with human insulin mixes 4, 5