BACKGROUND Herbaceous plants are common vegetal species generally exposed, for a limited period of time, to bioavailable environmental pollutants. Heavy metals contamination is the most common form of environmental pollution. Herbaceous plants have never been used as natural bioindicators of environmental pollution, in particular to monitor the amount of heavy metals in soil. In this study, we ...

This investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of the extract of Urtica dioica leaves on hyperglycemia and quantitative changes of β-cells in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Forty male Wistar rats were allocated in groups of normal, diabetic, treatment and protective. Hyperglycemia induced by administrating one dose of 80 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) intraperitoneally. Animals in treatme...

Urtica dioica (stinging nettle), is a perennial plant belonging to the family of Urticaceae, genus Urtica. Despite the use of nettle in folk veterinary medicine is well documented, U. dioica is today an underestimated and frequently neglected plant, considered by the contemporary agriculture as a weed to be eliminated. This mini review focus on very recent studies on dietary administration of U...

preliminary studies revealed that urtica dioica has been known as a plant that decrease blood glucose. despite the importance of this plant in herbal medicine, relatively little research has been down on effects of this plant on islets yet. the objective of the current study was to evaluate the effect of dried urtica dioica leaf alcoholic and aqueous extracts on the number and the diameter of t...

Background: Hormonal disorders such as hyperactivity of testosterone are one of the causes of infertility. In the present study, effects of Urtica dioica root extract on histomorphometric changes of rat testes induced by high dose testosterone was investigated. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, 25 male mature wistar rats were divided in 5 groups, group 1 was control, group 2 received tes...

Objective(s) Urtica dioica L. has been known as a medicinal plant in the world. This study was conducted to determine the effects of the hydroalcoholic extract of Urtica dioica leaves on seminiferous tubules of diabetic rats. Materials and Methods Animals were allocated to control, diabetic and protective groups. Treated animals received extract of U. dioica (100 mg/ kg/ day) IP for the firs...