Objective 　To assess the efficacy and safety of glimepiride for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Methods 　We searched the literature from PubMed, Ovid (All EBM Reviews), CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, CBM and other databases. Evaluating the quality of the study according to Cochrane systematic reviews, Meta-analysis was performed for the results of homogeneous studies by The Cochrane Collaboration’s software RevMan 5.0, and the heterogeneous data conducted a descriptive qualitative analysis.
Results 　Six RCTs included in the analysis and Meta-analysis was not performed due to the insufficient data (for the median or standard deviation). Six RCTs are multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. The results showed that glimepiride groups to reduce glycosylated hemoglobin, lower fasting and postprandial blood glucose, postprandial plasma insulin enhance the efficacy were statistically significant differences (P lt;0.05) compared to placebo groups. Four studies informed the impact of fasting plasma insulin (FI) and 3 studies showed that the glimepiride groups improving the fasting plasma insulin (FI) were statistically significant differences (P lt;0.05), but 1 study showed the two groups had no significant difference (P gt;0.05). All studies showed minor adverse reactions of glimepiride.
Conclusion 　Glimepiride can reduce the glycosylated hemoglobin, lower the fasting and postprandial blood glucose, improve fasting and postprandial plasma insulin for type 2 diabetes patients, and have minor adverse reactions. In a word, glimepiride is an effective and security sulfonylureas drug.

Citation： LIU Ruming,JIA Ping,TANG Yao. Glimepiride Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review. Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, 2009, 09(10): 1094-1098. doi: 10.7507/1672-2531.20090193 Copy