GENUS NETTLE (URTICA L.): A POORLY STUDIED GENUS WITH GREAT POTENTIAL (REVIEW)

The review provides information on the distribution, composition of metabolites, biological activity of the genus Urtica L., including 50–53 species of plants, shrubs, trees and lianes. In official medicine, the genus Urtica L. is represented by two species – great nettle in Russia and some CIS countries, burning nettle in the EU countries, Great Britain and the USA. In traditional medicine of different countries, only 25 types of genus Urtica L. are used, the practice of using which shows that nettle is most often used for diseases of the musculoskeletal system, kidneys and urinary tract, skin diseases of bacterial and fungal nature. The most experimentally studied are the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, the composition of individual metabolites of 13 species of the genus. About 200 substances belonging to different classes of substances have been identified in the species studied. Extracts and individual substances in an in vivo, in vitro, in silico experiment have a wide spectrum of pharmacological activity. Promising types of activity should be considered the ability to prevent premature aging of the skin, improve cognitive functions of the brain, and inhibit SARS-CoV-2. There are data from successful clinical trials and observations of patients taking U. urens and U. dioica. The pronounced anti-inflammatory properties of some of the studied species confirm the validity of their use in traditional medicine in musculoskeletal diseases, as shown in several clinical studies. This information shows that plants of the genus Urtica and their individual metabolites are promising for further experimental and clinical study in order to expand the raw materials base, areas of application in medicine, and create effective drugs.