Foreword

It is my privilege to write this Foreword for my former teacher and guide, Dr. Ramasamy Santhanam (an author and former Dean of the Thoothukudi Fisheries College and Research Institute, the first fisheries college in Tamil Nadu functioning under this University), for his book titled “ Medicinal Chemistry and Marine Life: Volume 2. Antidiabetic Potential of Marine Life”.

Diabetes mellitus, a chronic metabolic disorder, is characterized by a rise in blood glucose levels, and it is considered to be a major health hazard. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has reported that the number of people suffering from diabetes may increase to 693 million by the year 2045. Because of the increasing number of diabetic patients and the limited number of antidiabetic drugs, the search for new antidiabetic compounds, especially from marine sources, has attracted much interest from the scientific community. The marine environment is considered to be a vast and relatively unexploited source of antidiabetic compounds, which offer great scope for the development of new drugs.

The present title, the first of its kind, deals with marine life possessing potential antidiabetic compounds. I strongly hope that his publication will serve as a valuable resource for the students and teachers of both fisheries and pharmaceutical sciences, besides serving as a potential guide for drug industries in the development of novel, antidiabetic drugs.

I congratulate the team of authors for their timely contribution.