In January 2022, the Department of Pharmacodynamics and Toxicology at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences published an evaluation of various studies on the effect of nettles on metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome includes obesity/abdominal obesity, elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance/impaired glucose-insulin homeostasis, and dyslipidemia.

Phytotherapy (herbal medicine) has long played an important role in the treatment of metabolic symptoms.

Stinging nettles (Urticae folium) are considered a valuable plant due to bioactive compounds such as formic acid and rich sources of flavonoids. The role of nettles as a medicinal plant in metabolic syndrome has shown several mechanisms to be valuable, such as changes in potassium and calcium channels that improve hypertension.

Lipid-lowering (also sometimes called hypolipidemic agents, cholesterol-lowering drugs, or antihyperlipidemic agents) properties of nettles are mediated by inhibition of HMGCoA reduction (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reduction) and improvement of lipid peroxidation with the help of their antioxidant effect.

One of the flavonoids in stinging nettle, quercetin, is also responsible for reducing total cholesterol. In addition, nettles have an antidiabetic effect through processes such as increasing insulin secretion and proliferation of pancreatic β-cells.

The evaluation was based on clinical studies conducted in vitro (experiments in test tubes) and in vivo (experiments on animals & humans) with regard to the beneficial effects of stinging nettles in the treatment of various symptoms of metabolic syndrome.

According to this evaluation, most of the studies showed relevance to the antidiabetic aspects of nettles.

Stinging nettles have shown various positive effects on high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. It was found that stinging nettles, among other things, reduce the tension in the blood vessel walls. Nettle is also a valuable plant in the treatment of hyperlipidemia (Hyperlipidemia is part of the metabolic syndrome, which includes abdominal obesity, high TG, low HDL, elevated blood pressure, and elevated fasting glucose or type 2 diabetes) because it stabilizes lipid peroxidation (The formation of lipid peroxides leads to the breakdown of the original fat, thereby reducing membrane defects) and increases the oxidation of fatty acids in the liver.

The conclusion of the evaluation is that stinging nettles can be a useful natural remedy for any of the symptoms of metabolic syndrome (obesity/abdominal obesity, elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance/impaired glucose-insulin homeostasis, and dyslipidemia)

Source:

Mashhad University of Medical Sciences