Urtica dioica - Stinging Nettle

Urtica dioica is a flowering plant, also known in the United States as "7-minute-itch." Urtica dioica is an herb with stinging hairs found in the United States mostly in forests, mountains, weedy, undisturbed areas and roadsides. Extracts of the Urtica dioica roots have been used in Germany for prostate health, joint disorders and respiratory health. See prostate saw palmetto for more information on herbal treatment for prostate enlargement. Urtica dioica is the botanical name for stinging nettle herb.

Urtica dioica for prostate enlargement
Urtica dioica appears to be helpful for prostate enlargement.

Urtica dioica for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia: a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study.
J Herb Pharmacother. 2005;5(4):1-11. Safarinejad MR. Department of Urology, Urology Nephrology Research Center, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
A 6-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, partial crossover, comparative trial of Urtica dioica with placebo in 620 patients was conducted. At the end of 6-month trial, unblinding revealed that patients who initially received the placebo were switched to Urtica dioica. Both groups continued the medication up to 18 months. By intention- to-treat analysis, at the end of 6-month trial, 232 (81%) of 287 patients in the Urtica dioica group reported improved LUTS compared with 43 (16%) of 271 patients in the placebo group. Serum PSA and testosterone levels were unchanged in both groups. A modest decrease in prostate size as measured by transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) was seen in Urtica dioica group (from 40.1 cc initially to 36.3 cc). There was no change in the prostate volume at the end of study with placebo. At 18-month follow-up, only patients who continued therapy, had a favorable treatment variables value. In the present study, Urtica dioica have beneficial effects in the treatment of symptomatic BPH. Further clinical trials should be conducted to confirm these results before concluding that Urtica dioica is effective.

Urtica dioica leaf extract has antiplatelet activity
Inhibition of rat platelet aggregation by Urtica dioica leaves extracts.
Phytother Res. 2006 Jul;20(7):568-72. El Haouari M, Bnouham M, Bendahou M, Aziz M, Ziyyat A, Legssyer A, Mekhfi H.
Laboratoire de Physiologie et Ethnopharmacologie, UFR 'Physiologie et Pharmacologie', Département de biologie, Faculté des sciences, Université Mohamed Premier, BP 717, 60000 Oujda, Morocco.
Platelet hyperactivity plays an important role in arterial thrombosis and atherosclerosis. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of different extracts of Urtica dioica leaves on platelet aggregation. Rat platelets were prepared and incubated in vitro with different concentrations of the tested extracts and aggregation was induced by different agonists including thrombin (0.5 U/mL), ADP (10 microm), epinephrine (100 microm) and collagen (5 mg/mL). The crude aqueous extract inhibited thrombin-induced platelet aggregation in a dose-dependent manner. It is concluded that Urtica dioica has an antiplatelet action in which flavonoids are mainly implicated. These results support the traditional use of Urtica dioica in the treatment and/or prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Urtica Dioicia side effects
No significant urtica dioicia side effects have been found in studies that tested this herb for up to 2 years.

No Allergy to Urtica dioica ?
Allergenic proteins in Urtica dioica, a member of the Urticaceae allergenic family.
Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2006 S. Vega-Maray AM, Fernández-González D, Valencia-Barrera R, Suárez-Cervera M.
Department of Vegetal Biology (Botany), Faculty of Biology, University of León, Spain.
Allergy to the pollen of flowering plant species significantly affects the health of people in many parts of the world. Pollens of related genera usually share common antigens and are often, but not always, cross-reactive. Several studies have shown that Parietaria pollen is one of the most common causes of pollinosis in the Mediterranean area, whereas Urtica has no allergenic significance. We report on the localization of Parietaria judaica major allergen in Urtica dioica pollen grains and on the detection of allergenic proteins in Urtica dioica pollen grains during the hydration-activation process. A combination of transmission electron microscopy and immunocytochemical methods was used to locate allergenic proteins in Urtica dioica pollen grains. Conclusions: Immunocytochemical methods confirmed the absence of cross-reactivity between 2 related genera, Parietaria and Urtica, and the lowest allergenic potential of Urtica dioica.

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