Several classes of drugs have been developed to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Pioglitazone is now the only thiazolidinedione approved for the treatment of T2DM and can be administered in combination with metformin, sulfonylureas, exenatide, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors or insulin. It improves glycemic control with an extremely low incidence of hypoglycemia. In addition to reducing insulin resistance, it may also improve pancreatic beta-cell secretory function. Moreover, it exhibits a variety of favorable pleiotropic effects. The latter include anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, vasoprotective, antihypertensive and hypolipidemic actions. Finally, this agent has been shown to improve experimental diabetic neuropathy and alleviate neuropathic pain, as well as decreasing urinary albumin excretion in patients with diabetes. Thus, pioglitazone emerges as a valuable hypoglycemic agent for combination therapy in T2DM. Importantly, however, patients should be appropriately selected, especially to avoid those with heart failure, in order to minimize adverse events attributable to water retention.
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