Traditional preparations from plant sources are widely used almost everywhere in the world to treat diabetes. Therefore, plant materials are considered to be the alternative sources for finding out new leads for hypoglycemic agents. The effects of the leaf of Urtica dioica, a traditional antidiabetic herb used in India and Bangladesh, on the insulinemic and chronic inflammatory status of type 1 diabetic model rats have been studied. The experiment for the chronic effects of the extract was performed with continuous feeding of the aqueous extract of the leaves of U. dioica at a dose of 1.25 g/10 ml water /kg body weight for 21 days. The rats were divided into four groups. Type 1 diabetes mellitus in rat was produced with a single intraperitoneal injection (i.p.) of streptozotocin to adult rats. Serum glucose was estimated by Glucose-Oxidase (GOD-PAP) method, serum insulin and CRP (as a marker for chronic inflammation) were measured by ELISA technique specific for rats. Results: There was a significant decrease (at day 7,p<0.01;at day 14 and 21, p=0.000) in the body weight of the U. dioica treated group. serum glucose levels was significantly (p<0.001) decreased by U. dioica in type 1 diabetic rats. Insulin secretion as expected were significantly (p<0.004) increase in extract fed group. The inflammatory marker CRP was also lowered by U. dioica aqueous extract. The hypoglycemic effect of U. dioica aqueous extract may have an association with improved insulinemic status linked to an anti-inflammatory effect of the plant extract on pancreatic β-cells.
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