Pharmacokinetic model for the absorption of subcutaneously injected soluble insulin and monomeric insulin analogues.

A subcutaneous insulin absorption model is presented for parameter estimation from the time course of plasma insulin. Modifications of a published model were made for the absorption of soluble insulin and monomeric insulin analogues in the range of therapeutic concentrations and volumes. The modified diffusion-dissociation model with distributed parameters was approximated by a multiple-compartment model. Subcutaneous absorption of soluble insulin and monomeric insulin analogues with various volumes, concentrations, and injection depths was simulated. The model for soluble insulin exhibits volume, concentration, and injection depth dependent absorption, as experimentally observed. It was found that binding of soluble insulin in the subcutaneous tissue is negligible for U-40 and U-100 strengths. The absorption of identical doses (10 U) of soluble U-40 insulin was markedly faster (T-50% = 159.4 min) than the absorption of U-100 (T-50% = 196.2 min). According to the simulation results, the absorption rate of monomeric analogues is not dependent on concentration. No significant chances of the absorption rate could also be observed by varying volume and injection depth of the monomeric analogues.