Investigation of Anti–diabetic and ‎Liver Protective Effects of The ‎Aqueous Extract of Urtica dioica ‎on Streptozotocin Induced Male ‎Wistar Mice

Diabetes and liver diseases are serious problems and threaten the health of communities. Nettle has been introduced in traditional Iranian medicine as a blood glucose lowering drug. There are conflicting scientific reports about the effects of reducing the blood sugar of nettle, but this plant has good antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties to reduce liver damage. Current study, examines the anti-diabetic and liver protective effects of the aqueous extract of urtica dioica in vistar male rats. The mice were divided into five groups and in order to investigation of anti-diabetic and liver protective effects, test groups obtained daily 2.5 and 5 ml/kg of the aqueous extract of urtica dioica orally for 14 and 32 days, respectively. Blood glucose was measured with a glucometer and liver enzyme activity was measured with ParsAzmoon kits. The results were analyzed using Student's T–Test and ANOVA using SPSS software version 21. Blood sugar levels in first and second test groups (170 and 122 mg/dl) showed a significant decrease compared to the negative control group (446 mg/dl). The activity of liver enzymes in the first and second test groups also showed a significant decrease compared to the negative control group. The aqueous extract of urtica dioica has beneficial effects in managing diabetes and maintaining the health of liver cells against toxic compounds.