........................................................................................................................................................... II Opsomming: ................................................................................................................................................... IV Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... VI List of Figures: .............................................................................................................................................. XIII List of Tables: .............................................................................................................................................. XVII Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................................. XVIII Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. The metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis: risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) development ........................................................ 3 1.1.1. The metabolic syndrome .......................................................................................................... 3 1.1.2. Type 2 diabetes mellitus ........................................................................................................... 4 1.1.2.1. Activation of the PI3-K pathway in an insulin dependent manner ................................ 6 1.1.2.2. Glucose uptake .................................................................................................................... 6 1.1.2.3. Insulin insensitivity ............................................................................................................... 9 1.1.3. Atherosclerosis development ................................................................................................ 10 1.2. The importance of the endothelium in vascular health ................................................................. 13 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za