[Pharma-clinics. Medication of the month. Glimepiride (Amarylle)]

Glimepiride, commercialized in Belgium under the trade name of Amarylle by Aventis, is a new sulphonylurea compound which is indicated in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, after diet and exercise failure. It is available as 2 mg tablets. The initial doses is 1 mg, to be progressively increased up to 4 mg per day, if necessary, with a maximal daily dose of 6 mg. It is recommended to take glimepiride once a day, with the first main meal. Because of a particular binding of this sulphonylurea to the B cells of Langerhans pancreatic islets and, perhaps, of the presence of some extrapancreatic effects, both hypoglycaemic risk and circulating plasma insulin levels are lower with glimepiride than with glibenclamide, the reference sulphonylurea agent used in comparative clinical trials.