Curcumin is known to exert antiviral activity against influenza virus, adenovirus, coxsackievirus, and the human immunodeficiency virus [47, 48] . However, it remains to be determined whether curcumin can inhibit the replication of hepatitis C virus (HCV). A study showed that curcumin decreases HCV gene expression via suppression of the Akt-SREBP-1 activation, not by NF-kappaB pathway. The combination of curcumin and IFN-alpha exerted profound inhibitory effects on HCV replication. These results indicate that curcumin can suppress HCV replication in vitro and may be potentially useful as novel anti-HCV reagents [49] .