Curcumin, as a natural compound, extracted from plant Curcuma longa, is abundant in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and have been used in a diverse array of pharmacological activities. Although curcumin has some limitations like low stability and low bioavailability, it has been proved that this compound induced apoptosis signaling and is also known to block cell proliferation signaling pathway. Recently, extensive research has been carried out to study the application of curcumin as a health improving agent, and devise new methods to overcome to the curcumin limitations and incorporate this functional ingredient into foods. Combinational chemotherapy is one of the basic strategies is using for 60 years for the treatment of various health problems like cancer, malaria, inflammation, diabetes and etc. Molecular hybridization is another strategy to make multi-pharmacophore or conjugated drugs with more synergistic effect than the parent compounds. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the pharmacological activity of curcumin and its analogs in combination with other bioactive compounds and cover more recent reports of anti-cancer, anti-malarial, and anti-inflammatory activities of these analogs.

姜黄素，一种天然化合物，是从植物姜黄中提取的，在印度次大陆和东南亚地区含量丰富，并已用于多种药理活动。尽管姜黄素具有某些局限性，例如稳定性低和生物利用度低，但已证明该化合物诱导凋亡信号传导，并且已知其还可以阻断细胞增殖信号传导途径。最近，已经进行了广泛的研究来研究姜黄素作为健康改善剂的应用，并设计出新的方法来克服姜黄素的局限性并将这种功能成分掺入食品中。联合化疗是60年来用于治疗各种健康问题的基本策略之一，例如癌症，疟疾，炎症，糖尿病等。分子杂交是使多药效团或共轭药物比母体化合物具有更好协同作用的另一种策略。这篇综述的目的是概述姜黄素及其类似物与其他生物活性化合物的药理活性，并涵盖这些类似物的抗癌，抗疟疾和抗炎活性的最新报道。