A Review of the Effects of Urtica Dioica in Control of Diabetes: Hopes and Challenges

Diabetes is the most common metabolic disease worldwide. Due to the arbitrary use of Urtica dioica among diabetics, this study aimed to investigate the effect of this herb on the control of diabetes.

This review study was performed using the Persian and English keywords, such as "type 1 diabetes and 2", "insulin", "herbal medicine", and "Urtica dioica" among valid databases, including PubMed, Elsevier, Wiley, Science Direct, and SID from 2000 to 2019. Subsequently, out of 127 articles, the results of 16 studies were examined in this review.

The mechanisms investigated in these studies included DNA damage, increased numbers of beta-cells, increasedexpression of GLUT4 on the muscular cell surface, inhibition of atrophy of beta-cells, rearrangement of histology of isletsofLangerhans, and stimulation of insulinsecretion. Few positive results have been reported in the clinical models of diabetes on this extract.

According to the current study, Urtica dioica extract can control blood glucose levels through different mechanisms. Further studies with a wider number of samples to evaluate the exact mechanism of this extract on clinical specimens (in patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes) with and without insulin consumption and dosage are among the important issues in evaluating the effect of this extract