The newly developed sulfonylurea glimepiride: a new ingredient, an old recipe

Disturbances in insulin secretion and insulin action are both involved in the pathophysiology of type 2 (or non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. The newly developed sulfonylurea (SU) derivative glimepiride has a marked insulin secretory effect both in vitro and in vivo, and is capable of increasing plasma insulin levels with approximately 50% in type 2 diabetes subjects. Glimepiride improves metabolic control comparable but not superior to other (second generation) SU derivatives. Although it has been advocated for once-daily use, maximum effect is presumably achieved by twice-daily dosing. One of the most important side-effects of SU remains hypoglycemia in some patients, which may last for several hours. Although there is some indication that the use of glimepiride leads to fewer hypoglycemic episodes than glibenclamide, the differences reported sofar are not statistically significant.