Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs and IPR

Urtica dioica (Stinging Nettle) is one of the most popular plants, whose dietary and therapeutic benefits have been known since ancient times. The therapeutic activity of nettle leaves extracts in arthritis and osteoarthritis is related basically to the presence of phenolic compounds and their antioxidant activity. Literatures indicate that plants maturation leads to changes of their chemical composition. So firstly, we compared number of extracting methods to determine the one that gives the highest total content of phenolic compounds for which Folin-Ciocalteu method was applied. Secondly, the prepared soft extract was inserted in tablets and capsules formulations. Results showed that the optimal extracting method was in using fresh young leaves with ethanol 95% as extracting liquid at 70° C with reflux condenser, for five hours. We successfully developed the Urtica dioica herbal tablets using the wet granulation method. The best pharmaceutical formulation, contained calcium carbonate as filler, magnesium stearate and sodium benzoate as lubricants, sodium carboxy methyl cellulose (CMCNa) as disintegrating agent and alcoholic polyvinyl pyrolidone solution as binder. These granules formulation components were also successfully prepared to be filled later in hard capsules.