Curcumin, the primary curcuminoid compound found in turmeric spice, has shown broad activity as an antimicrobial agent, limiting the replication of many different fungi, bacteria and viruses. In this review, we summarize recent studies supporting the development of curcumin and its derivatives as broad-spectrum antiviral agents.

Human adenovirus (HAdV) is a common pathogen that can cause severe morbidity and mortality in certain populations, including pediatric, geriatric, and immunocompromised patients. Unfortunately, there are no approved therapeutics to combat HAdV infections. Curcumin, the primary curcuminoid compound found in turmeric spice, has shown broad activity as an antimicrobial agent, limiting the replication of many different bacteria and viruses. In this study, we evaluated curcumin as an anti-HAdV agent. Treatment of cells in culture with curcumin reduced HAdV replication, gene expression, and virus yield, at concentrations of curcumin that had little effect on cell viability. Thus, curcumin represents a promising class of compounds for further study as potential therapeutics to combat HAdV infection.

Human adenovirus (HAdV) is extremely common and can rapidly spread in confined populations such as daycare centers, hospitals, and retirement homes. Although HAdV usually causes only minor illness in otherwise healthy patients, HAdV can cause significant morbidity and mortality in certain populations, such as the very young, very old, or immunocompromised individuals. During infection, the viral DNA undergoes dramatic changes in nucleoprotein structure that promote the rapid expression of viral genes, replication of the DNA, and generation of thousands of new infectious virions—each process requiring a distinct complement of virus and host-encoded proteins. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of the nucleoprotein structure of HAdV DNA during the various phases of infection, the cellular proteins implicated in mediating these changes, and the role of epigenetics in HAdV gene expression and replication.