Chaparral
Scientific Name(s): Larrea divaricata Cav. Family: Zygophyllacea
Common Name(s): Chaparral , creosote bush , greasewood , hediondilla 1
Clinical Overview
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Uses of Chaparral
Chaparral tea has been widely used in folk medicine to treat conditions ranging from the common cold to snake bite pain. A derivative was formerly used as a food preservative. Anecdotal and in vitro evidence suggests antineoplastic effects.
Chaparral Dosing
Chaparral has been documented to be hepatotoxic at doses of crude herb from 1.5 to 3.5 g/day. Therefore, discourage its use. 2 , 3 , 4
Contraindications
No longer considered safe.
Pregnancy/Lactation
Documented adverse effects (uterine activity, hepatotoxic). Avoid use. 5
Chaparral Interactions
None well documented.
Chaparral Adverse Reactions
The creosote bush can induce contact dermatitis. 6
Toxicology
Chaparral may cause liver damage, stimulate most malignancies and cause contact dermatitis.
Botany
The chaparrals are a group of closely related wild shrubs found in the arid regions of the Southwestern United States and Mexico. Chaparral found in health food stores usually consists of leaflets and twigs. This branched bush grows to 9 feet. Its leaves are bilobed and have a resinous feel and strong smell. Synonyms are L. tridentata (DC) Coville, also referred to as L. glutinosa Engelm.
History
Chaparral tea was used as a remedy by Native Americans and has been suggested for the treatment of bronchitis and the common cold, to alleviate rheumatic pain, stomach pain, chicken pox and snake bite pain. A strong tea from the leaves has been mixed with oil as a burn salve. 7 It is an ingredient in some over-the-counter weight loss teas.
In 1959, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) was informed through lay correspondence that several cancer patients claimed beneficial effects on their cancers from drinking chaparral tea. Years later, a similar treatment was brought to the attention of physicians at the University of Utah, when an 85-year-old man with a proven malignant melanoma of the right cheek with a large cervical metastasis refused surgery and treated himself with chaparral tea. Eight months later he returned with marked regression of the tumor. 8 Additional cases observed by the physicians at the University of Utah included four patients who responded to some degree to treatment with the tea, including two with melanoma, one with metastatic choriocarcinoma, and one with widespread lymphosarcoma. After two days of treatment, the patient with lymphosarcoma discontinued chaparral treatment, despite the disappearance of 75% of his disease. The choriocarcinoma patient, who had not responded well to other therapies, responded well to chaparral tea for two months after which the disease became progressive. Of the melanoma patients, one experienced a 95% regression and the remaining disease was excised; the other, after remaining in remission for four months, subsequently developed a new lesion. 9
Reports subsequently appeared in the lay literature describing the virtues of chaparral tea as an antineoplastic treatment.
Chemistry
Phytochemical investigations of L. divaricata resulted in the isolation of nor-dihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) and the related lignans nor-isoguaiasin, dihydroguaiaretic acid, partially demethylated dihydroguaiaretic acid, and 3'-demethoxyisoguaiasin. The total phenolics together with the small amounts of lipids produced by the plant range from 16% in older plants to 21% in younger growing plants. 9
Chaparral Uses and Pharmacology
AntitumorAnimal data
NDGA is believed to be responsible for the biological activity of chaparral. Up until 1967, when more effective antioxidants were introduced, NDGA was used in the food industry as a food additive to prevent fermentation and decomposition. It is theorized that any anticancer effect of chaparral tea is due to the ability of NDGA to block cellular respiration. NDGA and its related compounds inhibit the beef heart mitochondrial NADH oxidase system and succinoxidase system, and therefore, exert some antioxidant activity at the cellular level. 10 NDGA inhibits the induction of the lipogenase inhibitor ornithine decarboxylase in mice. 11 , 12
Studies conducted by the NCI found that in vitro, NDGA was an effective anticancer agent, being described as “the penicillin of the hydroquinones and the most potent antimetabolite in vitro.” 13 This activity, however, is almost completely absent in vivo. Chaparral failed to show any significant anticancer activity in two separate NCI chemotherapy screening tests in mice. 9 There is some evidence that when combined with ascorbic acid, NDGA shows some inhibitory effect against small Ehrlich ascites tumors in mice.
Clinical dataOther disconcerting data from 34 cancer patients treated for varying periods of time with chaparral suggest that a majority of malignancies are stimulated by NDGA, while some go on to regress. 9
Other usesDGA also inhibits collagen- and ADP-induced platelet aggregation and platelet adhesiveness in aspirin-treated patients. 14
Dosage
Chaparral has been documented to be hepatotoxic at doses of crude herb from 1.5 to 3.5 g/day. Therefore, discourage its use. 2 , 3 , 4
Pregnancy/Lactation
Documented adverse effects (uterine activity, hepatotoxic). Avoid use. 5
Interactions
None well documented.
Adverse Reactions
The creosote bush can induce contact dermatitis. 6
Toxicology
NDGA has been found to induce mesenteric lymph node and renal lesions in rats; 2 because of these problems, it was removed from the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list in 1970. 15
Several recent reports have linked the ingestion of chaparral tea with the development of liver damage. 2 , 16 In all three cases, the patients took chaparral tablets or capsules for 6 weeks to 3 months. They developed signs of hepatic damage as evidenced by liver enzyme abnormalities; these resolved following discontinuation of the plant material. These reports indicate that chronic ingestion of chaparral may be associated with liver damage.
Bibliography
1. Dobelis IN, ed. Magic and Medicine of Plants . Pleasantville, NY: Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1986.2. Chaparral-induced toxic hepatitis-California and Texas 1992. MMWR . 1992;41:812-814.
3. Sheikh N, Philen RM, Love LA. Chaparral-associated hepatotoxicity. Arch Intern Med . 1997;157:913-919.
4. Grant KL, et al. Chaparral-induced hepatotoxicity. Integrative Med . 1998;1:83-87.
5. Newall CA, Anderson LA, Philipson JD, eds. Herbal Medicines: A Guide for Health-Care Professions . London: Pharmaceutical Press; 1996.
6. Lampe KF, McCann MA. AMA Handbook of poisonous and Injurious Plants . Chicago, IL: AMA, 1985.
7. Sweet M. Common Edible and Useful Plants of the West . Healdsburg, CA: Naturegraph Publications 1976.
8. Smart CR, et al. Cancer Chemother Reports . 1969;53:147.
9. Unproven Methods of Cancer Management. American Cancer Society, 1970.
10. Gisvold O, Thaker E. J Pharm Sci . 1974;63:1905.
11. Nakadate T, et al. Cancer Res . 1982;42:2841.
12. Bracco MM, et al. Clin Exp Immunol . 1984;55:405.
13. Burk D, Woods M. Radiation Res Supp . 1963;3:212.
14. Gimeno MF, et al. Prostaglandin Leukotrein Med . 1983;111:109.
15. Tyler VE. The Honest Herbal . Philadelphia, PA: G.F. Stickley Co., 1981.
16. Katz M, et al. Herbal hepatitis: subacute hepatic necrosis secondary to chaparral leaf. J Clin Gastroenterol . 1990;12:203.
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