[Pioglitazone insulin sensitivity and type 2 diabetes mellitus: recent data].
Thiazolidinediones ("glitazones") were recently added to the oral treatment of type 2 diabetes. Two glitazones are available in France, pioglitazone and rosiglitazone, which progressively were granted broader therapeutic indications since their launch in 2002. This review presents the most recent pioglitazone pharmacological and clinical data, with a particular emphasis on the QUARTET clinical study program results. Available information generates perspectives and hopes: prevention of the progressive decline in beta-pancreatic cell function (and possibly, prevention of type 2 diabetes in at-risk subjects), cardiovascular prevention in type 2 diabetic patients depending on the results of the ongoing prospective morbi-mortality studies in high risk type 2 diabetic patients.