Preface

The book "Antioxidant-Antidiabetic Agents and Human Health" is divided into five sec‐ tions covering specific chapters. The book containing 15 chapters primarily addresses the health benefits of antioxidant-rich natural products and medicinal plants in management and treatment of diabetes and other chronic diseases. Each chapter draws on the scientific and educational expertise of the authors presenting unique content, style of communication and scientific background, making it an excellent book in the field of medicinal plants and human health. It provides historical and scientific evidence on the usefulness of antioxidantrich natural products and plants with therapeutic potentials in management and treatment of diabetes mellitus and other chronic diseases. Scientists, professional health workers, aca‐ demics and students of different backgrounds would undoubtedly appreciate and value its deeply educative contents. The book pointedly adds to the pool of scientific and professio‐ nal knowledge in the field, but further provides better understanding on the topics covered. The carefully selected references provided in each chapter would act as catalyst for further information on the diverse topics treated in the book.

#### **Oluwafemi Oguntibeju**

Nutrition & Chronic Disease Research Unit, Oxidative Stress Research Centre, Department of Biomedical Sciences Faculty of Health & Wellness Sciences Cape Peninsula University of Technology Bellville, South Africa

**Section 1**

**Antidiabetic Agents**

**Section 1**

**Antidiabetic Agents**

**Chapter 1**

**Lipid Profile, Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Activity of**

Diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous primary disorder of carbohydrate metabolism which exists everywhere in the world and interests approximately 371 million people worldwide. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing with ageing of the population and lifestyle changes associated with rapid urbanization and westernization. The disease is found in all parts of the world and is rapidly increasing in its coverage [1, 2]. WHO projects that diabetes will be the 7th leading cause of death in 2030 [2, 3]. It is a metabolic disorder initially charac‐ terized by a loss of glucose homeostasis with disturbances of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both [4]. Without enough insulin, the cells of the body cannot absorb sufficient glucose from the blood; hence blood glucose levels increase, which is termed as hyperglycemia. If the glucose level in the blood remains high over a long period of time, this can result in long-term damage to organs, such as the kidneys, liver, eyes, nerves, heart and blood vessels. Complications in some of these

The roles of certain organs such as the pancreas, liver and kidney in diabetes mellitus are very important.The pancreas plays a primary role in the metabolism of glucose by secreting the hormones insulin and glucagon (Figure 1). The islets of Langerhans secrete insulin and glucagon directly into the blood. Insulin is a protein that is essential for proper regulation of glucose and for maintenance of proper blood glucose levels [6]. Glucagon is a hormone that opposes the action of insulin. It is secreted when blood glucose level falls. It increases blood glucose concentration partly by breaking down stored glycogen in the liver by a pathway

> © 2014 Arise et al.; licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Acacia ataxacantha* **Bark Extract in Streptozotocin-**

**Induced Diabetic Rats**

Oluwafemi O. Oguntibeju

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/57151

**1. Introduction**

organs can lead to death [5]

Rotimi O. Arise, Aderounmu I. Ganiyu and

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter
