Diabetes mellitus (DM) is considered a major public health problem in both developed and developing countries due to its chronic complications, at the macro or microcirculation, with great impact on mortality and morbidity in all patients. The disease is considered the end of a pathophysiologic process involving peripheral and hepatic insulin resistance and reduced insulin secretion that have been started years before the clinical diagnosis. Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a disorder that results from the increasing prevalence of obesity worldwide. DM is frequently associated with clinical and laboratory features of MS, like abdominal obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and microalbuminuria that are also risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Populational studies have demonstrated increasing prevalence of all the features of MS from pre-diabetes to clinical DM resulting in a great risk of cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of MS in DM type 2 is estimated to be >80%. Glitazones are PPAR-gamma agonists that improve insulin sensitivity. These drugs induce the transcription of genes related to glucose and lipid metabolism, and expression of inflammatory and endothelial proteins associated with atherosclerosis process resulting in an improvement in endothelial function. However several questions need to be clarified regarding the glitazones, in special those associated with their adverse effects such as weight gain, edema and heart failure.
Glitazones; Insulin resistance; Metabolic syndrome; DM2
