Information On Larrea Tridentata

Other Common Names: Gobernadora, Hediondilla, Creosote Bush, Creosote Bush, Creosote-bush, Gebernadora, Gobernadora, Greasewood, Hediondilla, Larrea tridentata

Range: Southwestern N. America; Mexico

Habitat: Desert areas

Creosote bush was widely used by various North American Indian tribes. A decoction of the leaves was used to treat diarrhea and stomach troubles whilst the young twigs were used to treat toothache and a poultice of the leaves was used to treat chest complaints and as a wash for skin problems.

It continued to be widely used as a treatment for rheumatic disease, venereal infections, urinary infections and certain types of cancer, especially leukaemia until its sale was banned in North America due to concern over its potential toxic effect upon the liver. There have been a number of cases of acute or sub-acute hepatitis attributed to the use of this herb and so its internal use is not recommended until further research has been carried out.

A number of cases of acute toxic hepatitis have been attributed to ingestion of a nutritional supplement derived from the leaves of the creosote or greasewood bush (Larrea tridentata), commonly known as chaparral. Use of the supplement appears to have led to serious liver injury and fulminant hepatic failure requiring orthotopic liver transplantation. Chaparral, which grows wild in arid regions of the Southwestern U.S. and Mexico, has been recommended in nonscientific publications for use as a "free radical scavenger" or "antioxidant" to treat a variety of conditions including hepatitis and alcohol withdrawal. Chaparral tea, made from the leaves is also a traditional American Indian medicine. Although the toxin in chaparral has not been definitively identified, a possible active ingredient is a potent antioxidant, nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), which can act in low doses as a lipoxygenase pathway inhibitor but at high doses as an inhibitor of cycloaxygenase pathways as well as cytochrome P-450 activity in rats.

Based on the information above, one might conclude that chaparral-induced liver injury is more likely to arise and/or to be more severe in former alcohol abusers or other people with preexisting liver disease. - National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

A tea made from the leaves is used as an expectorant and pulmonary antiseptic. Some N. American Indian tribes heated the shoot tips of this plant and dripped the sap (probably the resin) into tooth cavities to treat toothache.

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