Background and Objective: Nowadays, incidence of antibiotic-resistance among pathogenic bacteria has increased due to indiscriminate use of antimicrobial drugs for treatment of diseases, especially urinary tract infections. Medicinal plants are also of great importance as antibacterial agents. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the antibacterial effect of ethanolic extract of nettle (Urtica dioica L.) leaves using two methods of disk diffusion and well diffusion.

         Methods: Ethanolic extract of nettle leaves was prepared by the percolation method. Effect of different concentrations of the extract on Escherichia coli (PTCC1399), Staphylococcus aureus (PTCC 1431), Staphylococcus epidermidis (PTCC 1435) and Staphylococcus saprophyticus (PTCC1440) was evaluated using the disk diffusion and well diffusion methods by measuring diameter of growth inhibition zone. Gentamicin and propylene glycol were used as positive and negative control, respectively.

        Results: In both methods, especially in the well diffusion, the ethanolic extract of nettle leaves had favorable inhibitory effect on the growth of S. aureus, S. epidermidis and S. saprophyticus. In the well diffusion method, the highest rate of susceptibility to the extract (89%) was related to S. saprophyticus and S. epidermidis.

         Conclusion: The ethanolic extract of nettle leaf has good inhibitory effect on the growth of S. aureus (especially in the well diffusion method), which confirms the traditional use of this plant for the treatment of urinary tract infections.

          Keywords: Antibacterial Effect, Staphylococcus, E. Coli, Ethanolic Extract, Nettle (Urtica dioica L.).

ABSTRACT
          Background and objective: Surgery is the gold standard treatment for hydatidosis. Scolicidal agents could be used during surgery to kill protoscoleces and prevent cyst recurrence after rupturing of main lesion. Non-chemical agents with sufficient protoscolex-killing activity are known to be fully effective in this regard with fewer side effects. Fig tree is an Iranian native plant, which has been used for medicinal purposes in traditional medicine.
          Methods: After obtaining infected hydatid cyst of the liver from a slaughterhouse in Babol (Iran), the percentage of live protoscoleces was calculated by critical staining with 0.1 % eosin. Then, the protoscolex-killing activity of methanolic extract of fig leaves was evaluated at concentrations of 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg/ml in 2, 4, 8, 12, and 16 minutes exposure times. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 22).
          Results: Concentration of 20 mg/ml of the extract showed 100% protoscolex-killing activity within the first 2 minutes of exposure. In addition, the lowest protoscolex-killing activity (45%) was observed at concentration of 2.5 mg/ml after 2 minutes. The results also showed that the protoscolex-killing activity of the extract increases significantly in a concentration- and time-dependent manner (P <0.001).
         Conclusion: The methanolic extract of fig leaf at concentration of 20 mg/ml could exert significant scolicidal effect within 2 minutes of exposure. Therefore, complementary experiments should be performed on animal models to further assess the efficiency of the extract for killing protoscoleces of hydatid cyst during surgery.
          Keywords: Echinococcus granulosus, methanolic extract of Ficus carica, broth dilution.