Animal models of metabolic syndrome and associated co-morbidities

Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is recognized by the World Health Organization as a global epidemic affecting 284-347 million people in the world depending on the inclusion criteria used (Danaei et al. 2011; American Diabetes Association 2013). Co morbidities associated with T2D are hypertension, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) (Castelli 1984; Wilson et al. 2005) and diabetic nephropathy (DN) (Shah et al. 2009; Shao et al. 2013). There is an unmet need for therapies curing or preventing the progression of T2D and combined pathologies (Grundy 2008).