Effect of Urtica Dioica Decoction on Serum Glucose and Lipid Profile in Stereptozotocin Induced Diabetic Male Rats

Background: Since Urtica dioica is a traditional treatment plant and is used for antihypertensive, antilipidemic and antidiabetic agents, this survey was carried out to evaluate the effect of Urtica dioica decoction on serum glucose and lipid profile in diabetic male rats induced by stereptozotocin (STZ). Materials and Methods: This experiment was performed on 30 Wistar-Albino male rats, weighing 200-250 g, which were divided in sham control (A), diabetic control (B) and diabetic test groups (C) randomly (N=10). Type I diabetes was induced by single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (65 mg/kg). Test group received 0.40-0.60 ml of Urtica dioica decoction for a month by gavages, control group (B) received the same volume of distill water. Group (A) did not receive any agent during the experiment period. Finally, animals were anesthetized, sacrificed and blood samples were collected from the cervical vein. Then, serum glucose and lipid profiles were measured by ordinary methods. Data were analyzed by SPSS-11, using ANOVA and post hoc Tukey tests. Results were expressed as mean±SD, and statistical difference was considered significant by p < 0.05. Results: Results in the present study showed that fasting blood glucose (FBS), total cholesterol (TCho), triglyceride (TG), LDL, food and water intake were significantly decreased in group C compared with those of group B, but body weight gain was significantly increased compared with that of control group (B). Conclusion: These results indicated that Urtica dioica decoction caused decreased FBS and improved serum lipids in diabetic male rats. Some more studies have shown the same mechanism.