Application of Medicinal Plants in Treatment of Leishmaniasis: A Scoping Review Study

Parasitic diseases, including leishmaniasis, are the most prevalent infections worldwide that have serious risks for human health. Due to the serious side effects of chemical drugs and their inefficiency in some cases, medicinal plants have recently been considered for treating parasitic diseases. This scoping review study aimed to investigate and identify the medicinal plants introduced to treat leishmaniasis throughout the world. Scientific websites, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Magiran, Web of Science, and Elsevier were used to collect scientific information and research papers. The used keywords are Leishmaniasis, Medicinal Plants, and Protozoal Infection. The data were extracted and collected using research papers published over the past 16 years (2006-2022). Forty-three papers from the overall 385 collected articles were selected for the present study because of their complete relationship with the main aim of the research. The selected articles investigated 32 plant species for the treatment of leishmaniasis. The results of this systematic review study confirmed the therapeutic effect of 32 different kinds of medicinal plants. Furthermore, among these plants, three had stronger therapeutic effects and fewer side effects, including Rosmarinus Officinalis, Aloe otallensis, and Cephalis ipecacuana.