Medicinal plants with promising antileishmanial activity in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Leishmaniasis is a major public health problem worldwide. The aim of the present study was to investigate medicinal plants with anti-Leishmania activity which used in Iran. Data were systematically gathered from five English databases including Ebsco, Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar and Scopus, four Persian databases including Magiran, Iran doc, Iran medex and the Scientific Information Database (SID) from 1999 to April 2015. Information obtained included plant family, extraction method, concentrations of extracts, animal models and parasite strains. A total of 68 articles including 188 experiments (140 in vitro and 48 in vivo) between 1999 and 2015, met our eligibility criteria. Thoroughly, 98 types of plants were examined against three genera of Leishmania spp. For the heterogeneity study conducted, it was showed that there was a great deal of variation among studies. Based on random effect, meta-analysis pooled mean of IC50 was obtained 456.64 (95% CI: 396.15, 517.12). The most Iranian plants used as anti-leishmanial activity were Artemisia species, Allium sativum, Achilleamille folium, Peganum harmala and Thymus vulgaris. The present systematic and meta-analysis review provide valuable information about natural products with anti-Leishmania activity, which would be examined in the future experimental and clinical trials and herbal combination therapy. •We systematically reviewed all published papers regarding herbal medicine with antileishmanial activity in Iran among nine databases from 1999 to April 2015.•Overall 68 articles including 140 in vitro and 48 in vivo, met our eligibility criteria. Also, 98 types of plants were examined against three genera of Leishmania spp.•Our study shows, the most Iranian plants with anti-leishmanial activity were Artemisia species, Allium sativum, Achilleamille folium, Peganum harmala and Thymus vulgaris.