During diabetes, a profound alteration in the concentration and composition of fatty acids occur. These alterations may be relevant in explaining at least in part by increased predisposition of diabetes to atherosclerosis. Dyslipidemia is a modifiable risk factor and can be managed with therapeutic lifestyle changes and drug therapy. In this chapter, the effects of THC on lipids and fatty acid composition in normal and experimental rats are described.
Currently available drug regimes for management of diabetes mellitus have certain drawbacks and, therefore, there is a need for safer and more effective antidiabetic drugs. Natural products from medicinal plants continue to form a common platform for the discovery of new chemical entities in the modern drug discovery programmes. The belief that natural medicines are much safer than synthetic drugs has gained popularity in recent years and lead to tremendous growth of phytopharmaceutical usage. A wide array of plant derived active principles (phytochemicals) for possible use in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus has been reported.
Author(s) Details:
P. Murugan,
Bharathidhasan University, Tiruchirapalli – 620 024, India.
