Effect of Urtica dioica leaf extract on activities of nucleoside diphosphate kinase and acetyl coenzyme, a carboxylase, in normal and hyperglycemic rats

Abstract

Urtica dioica has been shown to have capability of reducing blood glucose through enhancing insulin secretion. The aim of this study was to assess in vivo and in vitro effects of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of U. dioica leaves on activities of Acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC), Nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK) and insulin level and serum glucose concentration. The experimental animals were randomly distributed among 6 groups of 7 or 8 rats each. The treatment groups received 150 mg/kg of alloxan. Then rats were fed alcoholic and aqueous extracts of U. dioica at 50 mg/kg/day doses for a period of two weeks. Subsequently glucose, insulin levels, and ACC, NDPK activity were measured. Our studies showed significantly lower levels of glucose in the group of rats that were treated with ethanol extract of U. dioica leaves as compared with the control group (279.6 ± 24.3 vs. 393.6 ± 24.9 mg/dl), (p<0.01). Present results showed significantly elevated levels of insulin in the group of rats treated with ethanol extract of U. dioica leaves as compared with the control group (7.6 ± 0.3 vs. 3.6 ± 0.2, µg/l), (p<0.01). Also, results showed significantly elevated activity of ACC and NDPK in the group of rats treated with ethanol and aqueous extract of U. dioica leaves as compared with the control group. The results of the present study indicated that alcoholic extract of U. dioica leaves was found to reduce glucose level and increase insulin secretion, ACC and NDPK activity in the alloxan diabetic animals.

The Effect of Interval Training and Nettle Supplement on Glycemic Control and Blood Pressure in Men WithType 2 Diabetes

“…34 Increased insulin action and increased insulin signals are other regulating factors of glucose metabolism. 35,36 Our observation regarding significant decreases in blood sugar levels in the intervention groups were similar to the findings of other studies, [37][38][39][40] reporting the efficacy of nettle administration on glycemic control. In spite of this, some studies showed no positive correlation between the use of nettle and declining of blood sugar.…”

“…18,19 Animal studies have shown that nettle active compounds can increase insulin levels in natural diabetes and diabetes caused by streptozotocin. 39,43,44 Three possible mechanisms have been suggested for the blood glucose lowering effects of Nettle by Fakhraee and colleagues. 19 These suggestions include (a) enhancing glucose uptake by muscles through increasing formation of permeable pores, (b) stimulating the release of insulin from pancreatic beta cells, and (c) inhibiting the activity of alpha-amylase, a carbohydrate hydrolysis inhibitor, which ultimately leads to modulation of blood sugar in type 2 diabetes.…”

The effect of nettle (Urtica dioica) supplementation on the glycemic control of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Nettle purportedly inhibits key carbohydrate digestive enzymes, including α‐amylase and α‐glucosidase, and, accordingly, decreases the intestinal absorption of glucose (Rahimzadeh et al, ; Önal et al, ; Bnouham et al, ; Said et al, ). Nettle has insulin‐mimetic, insulin‐sensitizing, and insulin‐secretagogue properties; moreover, it forms unique glucose‐permeable pores in lipid bilayers, activates the peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ and modulates the translocation of glucose transporter‐4 from the cytoplasm (Di Virgilio et al, (Di Virgilio et al, ) to the skeletal muscle (Domola et al, ; Rau et al, ; Farzami et al, ; Qujeq et al, ; Kadan et al, ). Furthermore, nettle can proliferate insulin‐producing β‐cells of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans and protect them from oxidative damage (Golalipour et al, ; Golalipour and Khori, ).…”

Urtica dioica Effect on Malonyl-CoA Decarboxylase

“…In order to prepare the aqueous and ethanolic extract of the aerial parts of Urtica dioica, we used the methods as described by Qujeq et al (12,13,17).…”

“…Alcoholic and aqueous extracts of UD leaf can repair pancreatic tissue in streptozotocin-induced diabetic models (12). UD leaves extracts (given parenterally) possess a hypoglycemic effect on alloxan hyperglycemic rats (13). UD affects on the liver enzymes activity (14).…”