Types of Insulin

Types of Insulin
	Agent	Onset	Peak	Duration
Rapid-acting insulins	insulin lispro (Humalog)	5 min	60–90 min	4–6 hours
	insulin aspart (NovoLog)	10–20 min	1–3 hours	3–5 hours
Short-acting insulins	concentrated insulin: Iletin II regular (concentrated) Insulin U-500. Caution: Do not administer IV because of the potential for overdosage.	30–60 min	2–3 hour	5–7 hours
	regular insulin: (Humulin R, Insulin-Toronto, Novolin R, Iletin II Regular, Velosulin BR) Caution: Regular insulin is the only insulin that can be administered IV.	SC route: 30–60 min IV route: 10–30 min	SC route: 2–4 hours IV route: 15–30 min	SC route: 5–7 hours IV route: 30–60 min
Intermediateacting insulins	isophane (NPH): (Humulin N, NPH Iletin II, Novolin Ge NPH, Novolin N)	1–2 hours	8–12 hours	18–24 hours
	lente: (Humulin L, Novolin Ge Lente, Novolin L) No longer manufactured as of July, 2005	1–2 hours	8–12 hours	18–24 hours
Long-acting insulins	insulin glargine (Lantus) Caution: Lantus insulin cannot be mixed with other insulins; may cause unpredictable results.	Onset: 1 hour. Provides a constant concentration over a 24-hour period with no pronounced peak.	Onset: 1 hour. Provides a constant concentration over a 24-hour period with no pronounced peak.	Onset: 1 hour. Provides a constant concentration over a 24-hour period with no pronounced peak.
	insulin detemir (Levemir	2–4 hours	None	24 hours
	ultralente: (Humulin U, Novolin U) No longer manufactured	4–8 hours	16–18 hours	36 hours
Pre-mixed insulins (Note: other mixes are available)	NPH/regular: (Humulin 50/50, Humulin 70/30, Novolin 70/30)	30–60 min	2–8 hours	24 hours
	aspart protamine/aspart (NovoLog Mix 70/30)	10–20 mi	2 1/2 hours	24 hours
	lispro protamine/lispro (Humalog Mix 75/25)	5 min	2 hours	22 hours