Disclosed is the use of a glitazone in the preparation of a medicament for the treatment of inflammatory respiratory disease by pulmonary administration by inhalation, wherein said disease is selected from mild asthma, moderate asthma, severe asthma, steroid resistant asthma, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, pulmonary edema, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, pulmonary sarcoidosis, silicosis, pulmonary fibrosis, respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, tuberculosis, and lung cancer, wherein the glitazone is pioglitazone or rosiglitazone and the glitazone content of the medicament consists of at least 95% by weight of the 5R enantiomer and less than 5% by weight of the 5S enantiomer.
