Can medicines help insulin resistance?

Two classes of drugs can improve response to insulin and are used by prescription for type 2 diabetes—biguanides and thiazolidinediones. Other medicines used for diabetes act by other mechanisms. Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors restrict or delay the absorption of carbohydrates after eating, resulting in a slower rise of blood glucose levels. Sulfonylureas and meglitinides increase insulin production.

The DPP showed that the diabetes drug metformin, a biguanide, reduced the risk of diabetes in those with pre-diabetes but was much less successful than losing weight and increasing activity. In another study, treatment with troglitazone, a thiazolidinedione later withdrawn from the market following reports of liver toxicity, delayed or prevented type 2 diabetes in Hispanic women with a history of gestational diabetes. Acarbose, an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, has been effective in delaying development of type 2 diabetes. Additional studies using other diabetes medicines and some types of blood pressure medicines to prevent diabetes are under way. No drug has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specifically for insulin resistance or pre-diabetes.

source: http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/insulinresistance/index.htm