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6 peer-reviewed studies
What the evidence says
Most Pioglitazone (Actos) studies are mechanism or observational rather than RCTs that measure a clinical effect — keep findings provisional.
Most evidence is from medium-quality meta-analyses and randomised trials published 2005–2016 with a typical study size of 5,238 participants.
Based on 6 studies · 1 meta-analysis · 4 RCTs · 33,658 total participants
Confidence
ModerateBy outcome
Newest study from 2016 · Latest meta-analysis: 2014
Pioglitazone reduced the risk of recurrent stroke or myocardial infarction in insulin-resistant patients without diabetes.
Kernan, Viscoli, Furie, Young, Inzucchi, Gorman · The New England journal of medicine (2016)
Pioglitazone reduced a secondary composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, and stroke in high-risk type 2 diabetes.
Dormandy, Charbonnel, Eckland, Erdmann, Massi-Benedetti, Moules · Lancet (London, England) (2005)
Long-term pioglitazone improved liver histology in patients with NASH and prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.
Cusi, Orsak, Bril, Lomonaco, Hecht, Ortiz-Lopez · Annals of internal medicine (2016)
Pioglitazone improved histologic findings and biochemical features in subjects with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
Belfort, Harrison, Brown, Darland, Finch, Hardies · The New England journal of medicine (2006)
Thiazolidinedione treatment was associated with a significantly increased fracture risk in women but not men.
Zhu, Jiang, Ding · Bone (2014)
Pioglitazone use was not associated with a statistically significant increase in bladder cancer in this propensity-matched cohort.
Wei, MacDonald, Mackenzie · British journal of clinical pharmacology (2013)