The primary aim of this investigation is to assess the effect on diabetes of U. dioica L. in rats with diabetes induced by alloxan. Male albino rats were assigned randomly to 3 groups: normal control rats; diabetic rats administered 500 mg/kg BW of U. dioica aqueous extract for 30 days, and diabetic rats induced by intraperitoneal alloxan injection (110 mg/ kg b. w). Serum fasting blood glucose level, lipid profile, liver and kidney parameters as well as body weight (BW) and relative weight of kidney, heart and liver were determined. The findings of this research conducted that when a diabetic group received 500 mg/kg BW of U. dioica leaves water extract., their BW and relative kidney to BW both increased significantly (P < 0.05), while their serum fasting glucose level (FBG) decreased significantly (p < 0.0001). Moreover, the extract had no statistically significant effects on triglycerides (TG), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), or high-density lipoprotein (HDL) at (P > 0.05) in comparison to diabetic rats’ group, but significantly decreased serum cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) at (P < 0.05). Concentrations of S.GOT, S.GPT, and S. urea rose before returning to normal. Our results showed that water extract of U. dioica L. made improvements to hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, liver enzymes, and renal function.

The genus Urtica dioica L. (Urticaceae) is frequently grown in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and is used as a folk remedy by the locals to heal a variety of illnesses. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the total phenolic, flavonoid and vitamin C contents using spectrophotometric method with the determination of antioxidant activities for different solvents such as (aqueous, ethanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform and n-hexane) using different antioxidant methods namely (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, reducing power assay, total antioxidant capacity, nitric oxide scavenging, hydroxyl radical, β -carotene- Linoleic acid and iron chelating assays) and ascorbic acid as standard reference. Our results showed that polar solvent extracts exhibited a significant high phenolic and flavonoid contents while ethyl acetate extract had a high vitamin C content. In addition, the findings showed that the extracts had remarkable antioxidant effects compared with standard ascorbic acid. The ethanol extract of Urtica dioica L. leaves had stronger scavenging activities than other solvent extracts for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and hydroxyl radicals. Water extract exhibited higher antioxidant effect than other extracts for reducing power and nitric oxide scavenging assays while lower antioxidant activity for β -carotene/Linoleic acid and total antioxidant capacity tests. In contrast, non-polar hexane had the highest antioxidant activity for the iron chelating assay. The present study shows that Urtica dioica L. leaf extracts are a viable natural source of antioxidants and may be used in food products as well as nutraceutical applications.

The research aims to assess different pharmacognostic standards on the Urtica dioica L. leaves with the determination of the total phenol and flavonoid contents using different extracts. U. dioica L. is a species grown commonly in Kurdistan region, Iraq used among the population as a folklore medicine treating different diseases. These standards include; percentage value of extracts using different solvents, phytochemical screening of bioactive compounds, fluorescence analysis using different chemicals under UV and visible light, and physiochemical properties were performed for moisture content, total solid, total ash, water soluble ash, acid insoluble ash, sulphated ash, crude fat and crude fibers. The percentage extracts yielded 22% and 20% of water and ethanol respectively while n- hexane had the lowest one (2%) using the Soxhlet extraction method. The screening of phytochemicals identified the presence of phenols, flavonoids, carbohydrates, proteins, tannins, alkaloids, saponins and terpenoids. The Kjeldahl method's protein assay revealed a high concentration of protein and the analysis of elements by atomic absorption spectroscopy shows the abundance of calcium, magnesium and iron among the six measured elements. Our findings revealed that U. dioica L. leaves are a good source of proteins, minerals, and exhibit a potential source of phytochemicals and these findings will be useful in the identification and development of pharmacopeial standards.