The Effects of Curcuma longa and its Derivative Curcumin on Aspergillus Infections: A Systematic Review

Background and Purpose: Curcuma longa L. is one of the most important medicinal plants used in traditional medicine. Its main compound, curcumin, has been widely reported for its biological properties. Here, we performed a systematic review of the effects of C. longa L. and its derivative curcumin on Aspergillus infections. Although some limitations in this systematic review study have been identified such as (i) the number of studies evaluating the efficacy of turmeric and its derivatives, such as curcumin, in fungal diseases such as Aspergillus is very small, and further in vitro and in vivo studies should be performed to better evaluate the efficacy of the plant; (ii) studies of the effects of turmeric and curcumin in different countries; (iii) the duration of treatment for in vivo studies was 2 to 12 weeks, so longer treatment intervals and longer duration are needed to better evaluate the treatment. Materials and Methods: In this review article, antifungal effects of C. longa and its derivative curcumin on the different strains of Aspergillus are discussed. The study data were obtained from various databases, including Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and Google Scholar, which were published by December 2019. The main criterion for entering data into the survey data was access to the English abstract at the search stage. The keywords used in the search included C. longa, curcumin, antifungal effect and Aspergillus. Of the 2,500 studies in the initial search, only 15 qualified for study inclusion, among which 9 (60%) were performed on the effect of curcumin against Aspergillus spp. The other 6 studies (40%) had focused on the antifungal effect of C. longa. Moreover, 9 studies (60%) were performed in vitro, 4 studies (27%) were performed in vivo and 2 studies (13%) were performed both in vivo and in vitro. Results: Studies have shown that C. longa has a significant effect on the development of the majority of microorganisms. Its predominant metabolite, curcumin, plays a major role in the biological activities of C. longa. Conclusion: Due to increased drug resistance, particularly antifungal, curcumin and its derivatives may be an appropriate option for the treatment of aspergillosis infections.