Efficacy of triple combination oral hypoglycaemic therapy using rosiglitazone, metformin and sulphonylurea in lowering HbA _1c

Thiazolidinediones are a new class of oral hypoglycaemic agents, which have been reviewed by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and guidelines published. There is ambiguity in the NICE guidelines regarding the use of the triple combination of sulphonylurea, metformin and thiazolidinedione to treat type 2 diabetes. However, in our retrospective audit we found that triple therapy was used in 52% of patients treated with thiazolidinediones. When we analysed the effect of triple therapy we found that it significantly (p<0.05) reduced HbA_1c from 9.6% (±1.5%) to 8.4% (±1.1%). Further prospective studies will be needed to confirm this. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.