Rosiglitazone and glimeperide: review of clinical results supporting a fixed dose combination.

Type 2 diabetes has become a major burden to the health care systems worldwide. Among the drugs approved for this indication, glimepiride and rosiglitazone have gained substantial importance in routine use. While glimepiride stimulates beta-cell secretion and leads to reduction of blood glucose values, rosiglitazone activates PPARgamma and improves insulin resistance, at the vascular and metabolically active cells. Therefore, the combination of the two drugs may be an interesting approach to improve glycemic control and lower cardiovascular risk. A fixed combination of both drugs has been approved for clinical use in the US and EU. The combination of glimepiride and rosiglitazone is generally well tolerated and the use of a fixed combination may lead to improved adherence of the patients to their therapy. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the clinical data that have been published on this combination, appearing to represent a convenient way to obtain therapeutic targets in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.